RTI Act completes 5 years in Jammu and Kashmir

Use RTI judiciously & Responsibly: S K Sharma

Jammu, March 20: 2014

Information Commissioner S K Sharma said here today that the right to information law is a powerful weapon which should be used responsibly by citizens. He said that the proper use of RTI as a tool can lead to curbing and ending corruption from many spheres of life.

Mr Sharma said that corruption is such a bane of our society that it is eating into the vitals of our democracy. The tool of RTI can be used as to strengthen democracy and ensure transparency and openness, he added.

Mr Sharma was speaking at a seminar organized jointly by Sangarsh  RTI  Movement and Universal Foundation, NGOs working to create awareness in the civil society. Sangarsh RTI convenor Balwinder Singh explained in detail the journey of RTI Act, passed on March 20, 2009, by the state legislature.

Mr Singh recounted his experiences of filing RTI applications with various departments in the state and the responses he got from them. Asserting that RTI was indeed a very powerful tool of probity and transparency, Mr Singh said that an application he had filed about Sales Tax arrears led to recovery of over Rs 110 crore from the defaulters.

Similarly, in several other applications filed by the Sangarsh Samiti, the authorities were forced to take corrective action in different spheres, he said. Mr Singh said that the citizens should make use of RTI in a responsible manner to enhance transparency.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Dineshwar Jamwal of the Universal Foundation said that the NGO tries to create awareness about various issues in the public domain. He said that RTI in J&K needs to be promoted by the public as it can help create transparency, as also curb corruption.

Lawyer Aseeem Sawhney spoke on the issue of litigation and how lawyers are now in a position to use the RTI for gathering information relating the cases they have to contest in the courts. He said that information gathered through RTI regarding illegal appointments, wrong actions on the part of authorities etc can be used for filing cogent cases in courts of law.

RTI activist Raman Sharma recounted his experiences of using RTI over the last several years. He said that he had filed his first RTI application in 2007 to get refund from BSNL about a landline phone connection. Since then, he has filed countless applications and for public causes.

Mr Sharma said that there are some problems faced by the Public Information Officers (PIOs) and Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs). These problems should be duly addressed by the government and the public authorities to make the RTI laws stronger. Dr. Hemla Agarwal while speaking appreciated the role of Sangarsh RTI activists for  spearheading the RTI movement in the state.

RTI Activist Deepak Sharma coordinated the over all program and also read the vote of thanks.

published on 20/03/2014 in: Daily Excelsior, State Times, Journey Line, Dainik Jagran, Kashmir Times, Early Times, JKNewspoint.

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