Two Days State Level RTI Workshop Held in Jammu and Kashmir

Sangarsh-CHRI Conducted State Level RTI Workshop at Jammu

Jammu, 30/May/2013: Two days state level RTI training for trainers workshop concluded here, the program was organized by Sangarsh RTI Movement in collaboration with CHRI, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi. In two days program the participants from different districts of the state including college professors, senior citizens, activists, ex-army officers, legal experts’ and students were provided section wise and rule wise information about all the aspects of the Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act 2009. As per organizers, the objective of conducting this workshop is to prepare more trainer and experts on the subject RTI so that they can further become ambassador of this transparency law and educate others about the same.

Wajahat Unveils RTI User Guide

After the RTI Workshop,  Wajahat Habibullah, Chairman of the National Minority Commission unveiled a book titled ‘Your Guide to Using the J K RTI Act ‘ authored by Venkatesh Nayak and Nandita Sinha from CHRI. On this occasion  Rehana Batool, Additional Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Nandita Sinha, Amikar Parwar of CHRI, Feroz Ahmad, retired IAS officer, Balvinder Singh, Convener Sangarsh RTI Movement, RTI Activist Raman Sharma, Darvinder Singh, Deepak Sharma, Rahil Gupta and Dr. Shiekh Ghulam Rasool, Convener JK RTI Movement from Kashmir were also present. Wajahat Habibullah while appreciating the Sanagarsh RTI Movement and CHRI for their effort of taking RTI to the people  and for launching the user guide also urged the participants to use the act for the public interest. On this occasion special guest, Rehana Batool, Additional Deputy Commissioner Jammu also assured the organizers to give  fullest support in their movement towards transparency. The members of the host organization, Sangarsh RTI Movement presented vote of thanks to the Chief Guest, Special Guest, Participants and other dignitaries present on the book release program.  

RTI Awareness Program held at Reasi

Jammu, 18/May/2013: Today, Youth Brigade Welfare Society organized one day RTI awareness program here for the general public where around a hundred people attended the program. Advocate Ajay Salalia, General Secretary  of Youth Brigade inaugurated the program with his welcome note, while speaking during the program he said on the request of the citizens and activists of the   district Reasi their organization decided to organize such awareness program on Right to Information Act. The  RTI experts   of Sangarsh RTI Movement from Jammu  including its convener Balvinder Singh and Raman Sharma were specially invitee on the occasion.   Convener Balvinder Singh while speaking on the occasion appreciated the team members of the Youth Brigade for their noble cause of educating the masses. He shared success various success stories of the RTI viz a viz of his organization and urged the people of the area to use this transparency for the welfare of the masses. Whereas RTI Activist Raman Sharma threw light on various provisions of the Central and State RTI Act. While underlining the importance of section 4 of the act, he asked the participants to press for implementation of section 4 of J & K RTI Act 2009. Later both the activists also interacted with the participants and also asked various queries posed by them. The program concluded with vote  of thanks by Rahul Jamwal, President of the Youth Brigade Welfare Sciety along with other team members including Vershel Gandotra, Vice President, Sudesh Sharma, Secretary, Sonali Pandoh, Legal advisor and Sudershan Singh.

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published in JK Newspoint, Journeylines, Dailyexcelsior, State Observer, The Shadow, Jammu Express and others on 19/May/2013.

Journey Line

JK Newspoint

Raman Sharma

J & K: Misuse of RTI is a Hoax-- Nothing on Records to prove

State info panel caught on wrong foot over ‘misuse’ of RTI Act  

Arteev Sharma
Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 9
The State Information Commission (SIC) seems to have been caught on the wrong foot after it “perceived” that the Right to Information (RTI) Act was being “misused” and suggested that the “misuse can be checked if the information (sought by an applicant) is allowed to be accessed only for three years.”

The Commission said it had received several “verbal complaints” wherein Public Information Officers (PIOs) and other government officers said RTI activists were “harassing and blackmailing” them in the name of the RTI Act and there was a need to check such “malpractices”.

The Commission’s observation, however, has sparked a controversy after information seekers wanted to know how the RTI Act was being “misused” in the state.

During his visit to Aurangabad on March 10, the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), J&K, G R Sufi, had said that “the way out (to check the misuse of RTI Act) could be if the information is allowed to be accessed only for three years to the public and later only if there is a judiciary requirement or any such important reason”.

Interestingly, on April 5 the Commission in response to an RTI application admitted that it had received no complaint “in writing” regarding the “misuse” of the RTI Act so far.

It also admitted that nothing exists in official records vis-à-vis any investigation done by it to access and establish the allegations that the RTI Act was being misused to harass officers or to blackmail anyone.

“None in writing” was the response of the Commission when it was asked as to how many PIOs and other officers had made written complaints that the RTI Act was being misused or some activists were harassing or blackmailing them. It also stated that no meeting so far had been convened to discuss and debate the misuse of the Act.

Raman Sharma, a Jammu-based activist who on March 11 filed an RTI plea seeking complete details about the number of written complaints made by PIOs regarding the misuse of the Act, alleged that it (SIC suggestion on March 10) was an attempt to weaken the Act, which had already been rendered a “toothless tiger” by the state government.

He said the Commission being a statutory body and custodian of the RTI Act needed to strengthen it. “On the contrary, it is bent on weakening the Act which is not good for society as a whole,” Sharma said.

A senior official of the Commission, who insisted on not being named, claimed it was not necessary that the complaint should always be made in writing.

“There could be no written complaint but there may be verbal complaints which may be looked into. The PIOs are reluctant to file complaints in writing and, at times, they convey their issues verbally. The Commission can take cognisance of verbal complaints,” he said.

He said the PIOs had no powers to ask an information seeker why he wanted information covering a long period (10 to 40 years), but the Commission could pose queries in this regard.

“There are implied powers, instead of expressed powers, with the Commission to question the RTI activists (on seeking information covering a long period),” the official said. If the Commission could tighten the noose around PIOs, the applicants must also be held accountable, the official added.

The CIC in his single line response maintained, “It was my personal opinion and it is up to government to make any such amendment.” 

No plaint on ‘misuse’ On March 10, the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), J&K, G R Sufi, during his visit to Aurangabad had said that “the way out (to check the misuse of RTI Act) could be if the information is allowed to be accessed only for three years and later only if there is a judiciary requirement or any such important reason”. On April 5, however, the State Information Commission in response to an RTI application filed on March 11 admitted that it had received no complaint “in writing” regarding the “misuse” of the RTI Act so far. Published in the Tribune: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130510/j&k.htm#3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is the copy of the RTI application filed by Raman Sharma APPLICATION UNDER JAMMU AND KASHMIR RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2009 To The Public Information Officer, J & K, SIC, Jammu. R/Sir, Kindly provide me following information under the provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act 2009. I am a permanent resident of the state and RTI fees of Rs 10/- attached herewith as Indian postal order vide no.08F 861556_____________________. Note: As per media reports, recently Honourable Chief Information Commissioner Sh. GR Sufi has made a statement there in Aurangabad while speaking at a meeting at Dr Rafiq Zakaria Campus. It is being published in the media that he has suggested that misuse of RTI act can be checked if a provision is made in the law that any information or record would be open for access to public only for 3- three years. Information Sought 1. As per the official record of the J & K State Information Commission, the visit of the Honourable Chief Information Commisisoner to Aurangabad was an official visit or Personal. 2. How many /PIO's/ other officers from J & K so far have made any written complaints to the State Information Commission allegeing that RTI Act is being misused or some RTI users are blackmailing the officers or harassing them. 3. Copies of all the written complaints submitted by the Public Information Officers or any other Officers where it is being informed to the Honourable CIC or any other IC of the JKSIC that RTI Act is being misused. Also provide copies of all communications/directions/suggestions made by HCIC or IC's in this regard to the respective officers. 4. Total number of meetings convened in or by the Jammu and Kashmir State Information Commission to discuss and debate the issue of Misuse of RTI Act in J & K. please provide copies of minutes of all such meetings. 5. As per official record of the State Information Commission, has any research or investigation is being done by the State Information Commission to access and establish the allegation that RTI Act is being misused to harass officers or to blackmail anyone. 6. Kindly provide the copy of any research document or any other investigation report initiated/carried out by the jammu and Kashmir State Information commission to access and establish the fact that RTI Act is being misused to harass officers or to blackmail. 7. Provide copy of all the facts/findings/Statements available with the State Information Commission where it is being established that Information seekers in the state are violating the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir RTI Act 2009. 8. As per the official record available with the state Information Commisison, intimate total number of RTI users being harrassed/threatened/thrashed/attacked by private individuals or government officers in state of Jammu and Kashmir. 9. Total number of Requests recieved by the State Information Commission from the Information Seekers/citizens where they have prayed for safety and security for their lives. please provide copies of all such requests and also the action taken by the state information commission in this regard. 10. kindly intimate details of steps been taken by the State Information Commisison to ensure safety of RTI users. 11. Total number of Cases where Honourable CIC or IC's have recommended penalty against any officer for not following RTI Law. Please provide certified copies of all such recommendations. 12. Total number of Cases where Honourable CIC or IC's have recommended discplianry action against any officer for not following RTI Law. Please provide certified copies of all such recommendations. 13. Provide certified copies of summons if any issued by Honourable CIC or IC's against any officer so far. 14. As per the records/information available with the state information commission, intimate total number of Public Authorities that have yet not published suo-moto all the releveant information under Section 4 of Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act 2009, which they were suppose to publish within 120 days from the date of implementation of JK RTI Act 2009. 15. As per the records/information available with the state information commission, intimate total number of Public Authorities that have published releveant information under Section 4 of Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act 2009 after the intervention of Jammu and Kashmir State Information Commission. 16. Detail of action taken by the State Information Commission against all such departments who have violated the provisions of section 4 of Jammu and Kashmir RTI Act 2009. 11/Mar/2013, Jammu    Applicant, Raman Sharma.

Let's have a Indo-Pak Prisoners' Rights Commission

Sarabjit should be the last victim of Bias

By Raman Sharma

Beyond even an iota of doubt, the Pakistani government and establishment there in Lahore have totally failed to perform their legal duty of protecting the life of a human being namely Sarabjit Singh, who happened to be an Indian Citizen who was under judicial custody facing a death sentence pronounced by the Pakistan's own judiciary. As per the law, it was the responsibility of the Pakistan government and the provincial government to protect him till a final decision to execute the sentence or pardon him is being taken. But even despite repeated prayers by the family members of Sarabjit requesting them to take necessary steps to ensure his security in their jails, the authorities there in Pakistan did not pay any heed to their demand and ultimately their negligence caused the brutal killing of Sarabjit.
May be the Pakistan government does not have any hand in this conspiracy of killing him because if they wanted to kill Sarabjit they might have legally executed him because as per Pakistani law he was a convicted prisoner who was awarded death sentence by the Pakistan Supreme Court and whose mercy petition had been twice rejected by the Presidents of Pakistan. But yes Pakistan and its establishment is guilty of not taking necessary steps to ensure his safety and security in the jail. They are also guilty of hiding the facts about those who attacked Sarabjit. Pakistan also deserves condemnation for not taking any legal action against the jail authorities who were legally bound to ensure proper security arrangements for the jail inmates. Moreover, Sarabjit was facing a death row and he should have been provided extra security cover even inside the jail. Therefore, apparently there are many questions for which people at the helm of affairs in Pakistan need to reply.
But, I do not put the entire blame on Pakistan for this unfortunate and inhumane act. The family members of Sarabjit and especially his sister for the last so many years is running from pillar to post to get his brother, who was in jail since 1993, released. She had presented a number of memorandums and prayers to the Indian Prime Minister, Home Minister, Foreign Minister and other political bosses but everyone did lip service and beyond that nothing was done. Anyhow, unfortunately, a human being who was an Indian citizen has been brutally killed. Forget whether he was innocent or guilty; at the end of the day he was a human being and deserved some humanity.
This is a very serious issue which would not die with Sarabjit. Governments on both the sides and the civil societies should discuss and debate this further. There should be no further instigation either from Pakistan or India. The media must not try to inflame the situation but they should rather focus on the issue of prison reform across the globe starting from own country. Government of India, media and Indian civil society should appreciate the human rights activists in Pakistan who provided support and legal aid to Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarabjit during her visit to Pakistan. At present there are hundreds of other Indian citizens detained in Pakistani jails facing different charges and similarly there are obviously many Pakistani nationals imprisoned in different jails of India. Now, the government of India should take up case of each Indian citizen with Pakistan so that they do not meet such brutal fate.
In response to an RTI query filled by me in 2009, the government of India informed that there are around 6400 Indians jailed in different foreign countries across the globe and there are over 5000 foreigners imprisoned in different jails of our country. But surprisingly this is unfortunate that the government of India had refused to share the data of foreign nationals who were in Indian jails despite completion of their term of sentence. The government of India had rejected this information citing that they have no such data to intimate that how many foreigners are still languishing in Indian jails who had served their maximum term of sentence which was pronounced by our own judiciary. Even this scribe (in year 2010) had moved a petition to the National Human Rights Commission of India to direct the government of India to divulge this information and the NHRC also as per its customary duty forwarded it to the Union Home Ministry for appropriate action but then after nothing was informed or intimated.
My submission to my government and jail authorities is that we should treat every human being equally and the foreigner nationals in our jails should also be provided same treatment with respect to human rights as our Indians avail as per jail rules, manuals there must not be any bias merely on the ground of once nationality. Supreme document of our country, the constitution of India does not allow any prejudice against anyone merely because of one's race, cast creed, color or nationality. Everyone is equal in the eyes of law. In our law it was nowhere mentioned that if any offence is committed by Indian citizen he would be awarded some lesser sentence and if the same crime is committed by a foreigner he would be given extra punishment.
As far as the case of Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails is concerned or vice versa there is obviously a tendency of bias against each other which the jail-mates in both the countries had to face and there are number of allegations of torture and harassment. To change this prejudice we need immediate jail reforms and must built a mechanism like Indo-Pak Prisoners Commission which would be authorised to visit any jails where a citizen of either India or Pakistan is detained. This commission may have the eminent people having sound knowledge of culture, Law, Social Issues, Languages of both the countries. This commission should be empowered to receive complaints from the prisoner(s) or their relatives without any interference and it should also have the power to order action against the guilty officer if found violating the jail, rules and manuals. There should also be some sort of prisoner's transfer treaty between India and Pakistan where prisoners guilty of petty crimes be transferred to their own country ensuring that they complete their term of sentence there or if both countries agrees the prisoners may transfer the prisoners to some third friendly country which is agreeable to both the nations.
Both government should not waste their time on allegations and counter allegation but take concrete steps so that in future no human being suffer because of the political hatred between the two neighbors. Though it is appreciable that now the government of India is offering some monetary help to the family members of Sarabjit but this is a cosmetic effort which would not last long and ultimately we have to have some mechanism to safeguard human values respecting each other's sovereignty. (The author is an RTI activist and can be reached [a]jkrtiact@gmail.com, Mob. 9796811012.)
published in Kashmir Times, JK Newspoint and others.http://epaper.kashmirtimes.com/index.aspx?page=7

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Government Engineering College Organizes RTI Event

Government Engineering College Organizes RTI Event

Jammu, 29/April/2013: Government College of Engineering and Technology, Jammu organizes one day RTI awareness session here today. On this occasion, college invited members of the Sangarsh RTI Movement as special guests including its convener Balvinder Singh  and Raman Sharma.

Daily Udaan

Pof. Atul Dhar, principal of the college in her welcome address appreciated the activists for their cooperation in brining awareness in the society. She also urged the students to utilize RTI for bringing positive changes in the system  and upliftment of the society.  Activists, Raman Sharma through his Power Point Presentation threw light on various legal aspects of the Jammu and Kashmir Right Act, 2009 and RTI Act 2005 as well. He informed  the gathering that   under central act any citizen of India can seek information whereas under the J & K state RTI Act only a person residing in the state can seek information from the government.  Convener, Balvinder Singh shared  success stories of his organization and urged the students community to be the ambassador of change. He apprised the participants that under RTI act  a citizen can also seek inspection of the records or even of any construction site and also take the samples etc. Later during the interactive session, both the activist also replied various queries of the students. Besides students, the HoD’s of different departments werealso  present on the occasion including members  of the co-curricular  activity committee, Dr. Veena Rani, Convener of the program, Dr. Sunita Kitroo, Er. Rajiv Bali, Er Sanjiv Gupta and Er. Karan Gupta, the event was  organized by this committee .  The program concluded with vote of thanks by Dr. Veena Rani, department of Humanities.

published in various newspapers including, Early Times, Kashmir Times, JK Newspoint, Udaan, The Shadow and ohers...

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http://www.kashmirtimes.com/newsdet.aspx?q=15866

Journey Line
http://epaper.journeyline.in/archives.aspx?page=11&date1=4/30/2013

The Shadow

Raman Sharma

Pof. Atul Dhar, principal of GCET.

Surinder, an Engineering Student

Balvinder Singh

Precautions before J & K Municipal Elections!

Implement 74th amendment, ensure security  before Municipal Elections!

Raman Sharma

The State government must consult security experts before announcing elections to urban local bodies of the state but as an ordinary citizen if I am asked to opine, I would suggest and urge the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah not to take any decision in haste and then repent as now the state government might be repenting because what is happening with the innocent Panchayat member, so far 6 elected village heads have been killed besides attack on others. Even the female members are not spared by the unidentified gunmen and the state government yet not have come to any conclusion that who is actually attacking these basic pillars of the democracy. The Panchayati Raj Institutions in absence of Block and District Level Panchayat Boards are incomplete and remain powerless in absence of implementation of 73rd amendment of constitution in the state. This submission to adjourn elections must be taken in right perspective and considered with open mind. The media reports suggests that the state government is eager to conduct elections to the urban local bodies any time now and their decision is not with the intention to devolution of power but due to the fact that in absence of elected urban local bodies a huge chunk of funds from the central government are not allotted to the J&K government and these funds can be released only if there are elected bodies in the state. Already financially constrained state like ours cannot afford to loose these central funds and this is the reason that now the coalition government is mulling for the election to municipal bodies but the decision makers must keep it in their mind that they have failed to protect the lives of innocent Panchayat members and the Chief Minister and his other cabinet colleagues have already expressed their helplessness to protect and provide security cover to all the elected panches and sarpanches. A petition in the National Human Rights Commission is pending with a demand that the government of India and particularly the state government must take steps to bring a sense of security to the elected panchayat members and their family members who are living under fear psychosis. Therefore it is expected from Chief Minister and his government that at least this time they do not put the lives of contestants into any risk and the Municipal Elections should be held only and only when the state government and its agencies are sure that they are able to protect the successful candidates and the elections are not just to receive the funds from the central government and then these elected people are left at the mercy of the terrorists. We the people do not need a new institution just created merely for the monitory benefits and then after leave it as an orphan body. Therefore the State government must assure it to the people of the state that it would own the responsibility of safety and security of the lives of the contesting and winning candidates in Municipal Elections. If the state government takes full responsibility that it would be able to provide security to all the people who would participate in these elections then people would appreciate the decision of holding Municipal Elections. No one is against democracy or elections and every right thinking person want to see the basic institutions of the democracy to flourish in the state. Besides security, the elections without implementation of 74th amendment of constitution in the state is furthermore of no use because without 74th amendment local bodies remain weak and ineffective on account of a variety of reasons, including the failure to hold regular elections, prolonged supersessions and inadequate devolution of powers and functions. Without proper implementation of this provision Urban Local Bodies shall not able to perform effectively as vibrant democratic units of self-government. It is only 74th amendment that ensures and guarantees certain protections to the Urban Local bodies as it maintains footing the relationship between the State Government and the Urban Local Bodies with respect to the functions and taxation powers; arrangements for revenue sharing; Ensuring regular conduct of elections; ensuring timely elections in the case of supersession; providing adequate representation for the weaker sections like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women. Otherwise the state government on the pretext of one reason or the other deprive these urban local bodies of required funds, the government without any laid law defers elections sine die and for political gains announce elections keeping the vote profit and loss account into consideration. The political establishments in the state also must justify the reason for disparity that why for the members of the state legislative assembly and the council the tenure is fixed for 6 years but for the Panchayat members and the elected councilors, corporators of the municipal bodies the tenure is only 5 years. For political convenience the rules are amended and accepted by the politicians without any logic or justification. This is apathy that the political parties here in J&K do not want to implement the pro-democratic, pro-power devolution law for the municipal bodies (74th amendment ) as it also has the provision that gives the urban local bodies the Power to impose taxes for funds for the municipalities. It make it mandatory for the state legislature to authorise a municipality to levy, collect and appropriate such taxes, duties, tolls and fees in accordance with such procedure and subject to such limits as assigned to a municipality such taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and collected by the state government. The state government and the political parties here do not want to give financial autonomy to these bodies because once these institution are made financially independent then the state will cease to interfere in their day to day activities. There is also a provision of Finance Commission, who would review the financial position of the municipalities, the finance commission would be the same which would be constituted under the Panchayati Raj with implementation of 73rd amendment, the finance commission besides Panchayati Raj Institutions shall moreover make recommendations to the governor for the municipalities taking care of the needs and requirements of these institutions of self-governance. Let's hope good sense prevails amongst the political bosses of the state and the people at the helm of affairs do not customary announce municipal elections without making necessary arrangements for the security and the implementation of 74th amendment. About Raman Sharma, he is an RTI activist and can be reached [a] jkrtiact@gmail.com,Mob: 9796811012. published in The North Lines, JK Newspoint, Journey Line, Sree Times and many others..... http://epaper.journeyline.in/archives.aspx?date1=4/28/2013&page=6 http://www.jknewspoint.com/newsdet.aspx?q=12455

Panchs, Sarpanchs Decry Security, Empowerment: …But Coalition Partners Eyeing 'MISSION 2014'

Kashmir Times

Panchs, Sarpanchs Decry Security, Empowerment

…But Coalition Partners Eyeing 'MISSION 2014'

Raman Sharma    

Now it has been almost two years that the state coalition government is orchestrating so loud and making promises to the 33,000 elected Panchayat members that the NC-Congress government is quite sincere in strengthening the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the State but beyond this lip service and formulation of so called expert panels nothing tangible has been done to give a sigh of relief to the elected village heads who before the elections were shown a very glowing picture and were made to believe that after elections they would not only be given an opportunity to be a part of the basic democratic units but also enjoy power devolution and would also be able to serve their respective constituencies (Halqas). But this Cup of extra sugared Coffee never reached the Lip and in cold war between the National Conference and Congress Party the village heads are rendered helpless to suffer between the tug of war between Nation's oldest Party and the state's oldest Party. Right from Congress Party's National top Brass like Rahul Gandhi to State unit of party headed by Professor Saifudin Soz, the party projected itself as pro-Panchayats and made public announcements that the party would do whatever necessary to implement 73rd amendment of Indian Constitution here in J & K to strengthen Panchayati Raj Institutions. On the other side, the National Conference also assert for strengthening the local self governance units in rural areas but with a caveat that because of article 370 the Indian laws cannot be directly extended in the state.

Anyhow, once again 2 months ago another so called expert panel of Congress Party has submitted its recommendations to the state government for strengthening the PRI's and on the name of further study the report, the state government ordered formulation of another commission having members from the rural development and Panchayat ministry . This commission comprising of bureaucrats has also submitted its report and recommendations to the state government but yet the government is not taking any decision and still trying to buy more times. It is pertinent to mention here that earlier also the state government hired the services of Delhi based NGO to suggest recommendations and to make a critical comparison between the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayti Raj Act and the Union Panchayti Raj Law. Unfortunately the state government never ever made this report public which has suggested so many positive recommendations and underlined many shortcoming in the state Panchayati Raj Act.

The state government has simply failed to convince the elected Panchayat members that it was sincere to give powers to them. The only thing the J & K governments and its ministers talk about is that the state government has put 14 departments under the control of Panchayats. This is perhaps the biggest joke of the century because the GAD circulars make it ample clear that in these 14 departments any Panch or Sarpanch can only do the role of a whistle blower and nothing else. For example in forest department if any Sarpanch finds someone is cutting a tree in his Panchayat Halqa Jurisdiction he can simply make a complain to the concerned forest official which other wisely an ordinary citizen can also do. And in any educational institute say a primary school if any village head finds absence of a teacher or any other staff member in this case also he has to report to the concerned ZEO, zonal education officer. The Panchayat member cannot even recommend any disciplinary action against any delinquent officer or official not even a class iv employee.

The only good thing in this period of two years the state government did for the Panchayat representatives is announcement of honorarium to them, the state government has announced Rs. 2000/month (Rs. 66/day) for the Sarpanch and Rs. 1000/Month (Rs. 33/day) for Panch which no way can be justified in this era of high inflation. Last but not the least, so far 6 Sarpanches have been assassinated by the unidentified gunmen but both the union and the state government remain clueless and eyeing 2014 elections (both lok sabha and assembly elections are due in 2014). GOI and State government are trying to bury this important issue under carpet ignoring the consequences. Calling it as personal rivalry to selected targets the people at the helm of affairs are not willing to face the bitter truth that the situation is going out of hand and if immediate action is not taken then no one can stop the history to repeat itself. God forbids, if 1987 election scenario is repeated then who will come forward to participate in democratic process therefore both Congress and National Conference should shun their petty political points and do whatever necessary to keep the flame of constitution and democratic principles alive. In a major embarrassment for the government of India and the state now these scared Panches and Sarpanches have urged the World Human Rights Organizations to intervene in the matter of killings of Panchayat members. The other mainstream political parties also needs to raise the genuine grievances of the 33000 elected Panchayat members who are feeling helpless in absence of any power in their hand and are also fearing for risk to their lives because they have received open threat by a terror outfit's commander from across the border. About Raman Sharma, he is an RTI activist and can be reached [a]jkrtiact@gmail.com. 

http://journeyline.in/newsdet.aspx?q=18876 

published in Early Times, JK Newspoint, Kashmir Times, Journey Line, The Northlines and many others

Remove 'SMS ban' before ‘AFSPA’

Stop rhetoric's, execute the do-able ! Remove 'SMS ban' before ‘AFSPA’ Raman Sharma Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his National Conference must stop rhetoric's about the removal of Armed Forces Special Power Act from Jammu and Kashmir because now the people of the state do not take time to understand facts and rumors and more the party and its leaders talk about revocation of AFSPA, the more irritated people feel. How can you even talk of revocation of "AFSPA" when you are so afraid even of SMS (Short Message). Firstly dare to remove SMS Ban from Pre-Paid Mobile Subscribers before issuing any irrelevant statement on such a sensitive issue like Special Powers to the Security Forces. The 43 years old Chief Minister has time and again expressed his political desire on the revocation of the AFSPA but he keeps a silence on the issue of removing ban from SMS service, he has not even setting a deadline for withdrawal of SMS Ban. Though Omar promises on his face book page "I can say with confidence that AFSPA withdrawal will take place during the tenure of this government and that day is also not very far". It is pertinent to mention here so far neither the Chief Minister nor his government has made any official written request to the Center for withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Power Act and this is also mere a lip service to woo the innocent people. The Chief Minister and government must concentrate what is 'Do-able' and I don't think that the State Chief Minister is so helpless as he claims to be and if he sincerely wants to remove the ban from SMS service this is quite possible and it would obviously be helpful for him and the party to reclaim their image as a pro-youth, pro-democracy. The decision of withdrawing or continuing AFSPA in the state is a time consuming debate and cannot be done away within days or months and it would also needs long deliberations amongst not only the political parties but also the security experts. Here in J & K there is a complete ban on Short Message Service (SMS) services of prepaid mobile subscribers, in the year 2010 the Government ordered for a ban on SMS services of the subscribers of all the telecom companies operating in the state of J&K. But after a considerable period the Government lifted the ban on SMS services of post paid subscribers but unfortunately the Ban on prepaid subscribers remained enforce till date even after a lapse of considerable period of around 3 years. The ban on SMS service was imposed by the government on the grounds that it was being used to spread rumors and to incite violence and hence posing a problem for law and order related issues. As per Government's version with the SMS's the anti social, anti national elements spread rumors and other false news/information of atrocities by police , Paramilitary and other security agencies and this led to violence and protest including stone pelting by the people who get provoked by the false propaganda against state through SMS. No one can argue that keeping law and order is the state's right and duty and decision of the State Government in safeguarding the security interest of the state and its citizens is essential but putting a ban on the pre paid subscribers only and that too for a long period of almost 3 years is illogical and need to be reviewed and quashed by the concerned competent authorities without any further delay. In this era of advanced Information technology the selective ban on SMS services of Prepaid mobile subscribers is not only unconstitutional, non democratic, useless and illogical but also become totally irrelevant especially due to launching of new software's, application like Whatsapp, social networking sites like face book, orkut and twitter etc. There is a wide spread use of these messaging services like Whatsapp these days these applications not only serve as text message carrier but also transmit Images, videos, audios files at a much faster speed and that too without any cost. This ban on SMS service is only confined up to the poor people who cannot afford sophisticated and Smart mobile sets which are now a days available in the market with a small amount of 4 to 5 thousand rupees. Instead of cracking a whip on the anti social and anti national elements and strengthening their own mechanism of monitoring the activities of the suspicious persons who are instrumental in spreading the rumors which poses a threat to the law and order situation. The State Government has banned the SMS services of all the prepaid subscribers of the state and thus made the common man a sufferer and deprived them of their rights. The State Government justifies ban on the SMS services of prepaid mobile subscribers of the state on the grounds that through SMS rumors and false information spreads and which in turn incites violence and hence poses a threat to the law and order in the state. This justification of the Government on ban puts a grave question mark on the integrity, loyalty and patriotism of all the prepaid mobile subscribers of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and thus projects the subscribers of prepaid mobile in a very poor light and with suspicions in public life and thus the ban on SMS is a clear violation of the right of the prepaid mobile subscribers to live a dignified life. The constitutional guarantee of equality is being flouted with impunity in the state as both the prepaid and post paid subscribers are being treated unequal by the order of the Govt. to ban SMS services of prepaid mobile subscribers of the state. Once again , I would urge the union and state government to remove the ban from pre-paid SMS services and let the poor people of the state also exercise their right to freedom of expression and information. Hope good sense prevails and the ban is removed henceforth. Raman Sharma is an RTI activist and can be reached [a] jkrtiact@gmail.com, mob: 9796811012. http://www.jknewspoint.com/newsdet.aspx?q=11884 published in JK Newspoint, Earlytimes Plus, Kashmir Times and many other and others on 18/Apr/2013 an d other dates. Kashmir Times

RTI activist seeks info about under trails in JK prisons

RTI activist seeks info about under trails in JK prisons

GK NEWS NETWORK

Jammu, April 17: A Jammu based RTI activist Deepak Sharma has approached State Information Commission seeking a direction for jail authorities to display list and status of all under trails lodged in different jails of the state.
Sharma has filed RTI in the backdrop of the notice issued by Union Home ministry to all States and Union territories to release all under trails who have completed more than half of the maximum period of imprisonment for the crime they are facing trail on personal bond with or without sureties.
While referring to the decision of the Maharashtra State Chief Information Commission (SCIC) in the appeal filed by Shailesh Gandhi, former Central Information Commissioner (CIC), the activist said that the Maharashtra SCIC has directed prison authorities to display details of under trials who have completed over 50% of the maximum prison term they are liable for.
The activist shared that taking the cue from his Maharashtra counterpart ,Sh. Jannat Hussain, Chief Information Commissioner Andhra Pradesh, is also going to direct the competent authorities to make public the details of such under trails.
Expressing concern over a recent case in which a man remained in the jail of the state for four years even after the acquittal by the Court in a murder case, Deepak said that such lapses happen due to callous attitudes of the officials.

http://jammu.greaterkashmir.com/news/2013/Apr/18/rti-activist-seeks-info-about-under-trails-in-jk-prisons-63.asp

Published in Greater Kashmir, Kashmir Times, JK Newspoint, Rising Kashmir, The Norhtlines and many others. on 18/April/2013.