Wednesday, June 12, 2013

32,000 passouts of JU waiting for Degrees


Jammu: In a reply to Right to Information Query the authorities of Jammu university have admitted that over 32,000 passouts including graduate and post-graduate candidate are waiting to get their degree  from Jammu University which includes students from 2006 to 2011 batch. The varsity has not issued  graduate and post-graduate Degrees to a total of 32,120 passout students from different streams the list includes 26,564 graduates and 5,556 post-graduate students who have not received their degrees since  2006-07 (Undergraduate courses) and 2010-11(PG Courses).
The information has been provided by the Public Information Officer of the Jammu University vide his office letter no. PIO/JU/13/7169 dated 29/May/2013 in response to application of RTI Activists Raman Sharma. While appreciating the Public Information Officer of the university for providing all the information, Raman said the reply is quite shocking. It is very unfortunate that the university which owns ISO status can be so careless and tardy in its action that it has not issued degrees to 33,000 successful candidates for  last 5 to 6 years. Today the institutions are awarding online degrees to the students but here in our state the people at the helm of affairs still lagging behind. As per the reply total number of successful candidates who have not been issued their graduation degrees from session 2006-07 onwards are 26,564 and  the total strength of post-graduate candidates waiting  for degrees from session 2009 onwards are 2,256 of session 2010 and 3,300 of session 2011, the RTI reply states. The reply also states that over 1100 students only from Women College Parade, Jammu have not been issued their Degrees who passed out in the year 2009. There are many other students who have not been issued their degrees by the JU.  
When the matter of pending degrees was brought to the notice of the Vice Chancellor’s Secretariat, the senior officers there immediately issued orders to the concerned department to clear the backlog without any further delay. In the meanwhile , the  RTI applicant has said he has also apprised the governor about the issues and has sought a direction in this regard . ‘A similar RTI application  was also filed with the Kashmir University on 04/April/2013 through Jammu and Kashmir State Information Commission but till no intimation in this regard has been received from there, Raman informed.  
(( Published in JK Newspoint, Journey Line, Amar Ujala, Dainik Jagran, Rising Kashmir, Times of India, The Tribune, Daily Udaan and many others.))
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130612/jmtrib.htm#1

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-11/news/39897886_1_jammu-university-degree-certificate-graduate

Rising Kashmir






The Tribune



Amar Ujala



Jk Newspoint

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Direct Government to Accept RTI Fees by Electronic Mode: Activists to J & K CIC


J & K RTI activists have asked the Jammu and Kashmir State Chief Information Commission to direct the government and Public Authorities to accept RTI fees in electronic mode like E.IPO, Debt/Credit Card and other means of internet to pay the fees. In this regard the activists submitted a written submission to the J & K CIC on 10/May/2013 with their list of demands.


Jammu Kashmir Activists File RTI Pleas with State Political Parties


Jammu : Taking a stance of the recent order passed by the Central Information Commission to include National political parties under the ambit of RTI Act, the activists of Sangarsh RTI Movement Sd. Balvinder Singh (Convener) and Deepak Sharma today filed RTI application to three main State regional political parties of the state to make them also accountable under state RTI Act. While hailing the decision of the Central Information Commission to bring National political parties under the RTI Act 2005, the activists Sd. Balvinder Singh and Deepak Sharma shared that since the J&K State has its own RTI Aact and Information Commission , so the same order of Central Information Commission is not applicable for regional political parties of the state and the State Information Commission has no powers to act suo motto to declare these regional political parties as public authorities under State RTI Act unless any resident of the state approaches the commission in this regard .

The activists shared that  they have filed RTI application to three main political parties of the state namely National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party and J&K National Panthers Party and sought details which includes details of the donators who have given donation to these political parties during last 5 years , details of all the expenses incurred by these political parties for the last 5 years and details of  benefits enjoyed by these regional political parties in terms of office accommodations and income tax exemption .

The activists urged that all the regional political parties to which the RTI applications has been filed, should divulge the asked information under the provisions of the State RTI Act as it will give a clear message to other National political parties that J&K State regional political parties stands together for the promotion of accountability and transparency and shows no compromise in this regard. While appreciating the role of all these regional political parties for their contribution in the promotion of transparency in the state , especially to young and dynamic Chief Minister of the State Sh. Omar Abdullah , who is pioneer in bringing the State RTI Act in to a reality , the activists has hoped that without any prejudice all the regional political parties will welcome this move to bring them under the RTI Act ,as all these regional political parties have always remained in the forefront for the cause of RTI in the state. The activists also urged the regional political parties to suo motto disclose as much as information so that there is minimal resort to filing RTI. 

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Plea filed for bringing J&K parties under ambit of RTI Act 

Jammu: Amid a debate on CIC order bringing major political parties under RTI, activists here have filed a plea before the J&K Information Commission seeking that regional political parties of the state be brought under the ambit of the transparency law. "We hail the decision of the Central Information Commission (CIC) to bring national political parties under the RTI Act 2005," activists 
Balvinder Singh and Deepak Sharma of Sangarsh RTI Movement said today.  The activists said that they have filed a petition for bringing three main political parties of the state National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and J&K National Panthers Party (JKNPP) under the ambit of state RTI Act. They said the order of the CIC is not applicable to regional political parties and the State Information Commission has no powers to suo motu declare these parties as public authorities under State RTI Act unless any resident of the state approaches the state Commission in this regard. 
Left to Right: Ms Mehbooba Mufti(PDP), Bhim Singh(Panthers Party), Omar Abdullah, (NC)
 "We have also sought details from parties which include their donors during the last five years, expenses incurred by these political parties for the period and benefits enjoyed by these regional political parties in terms of office accommodations and income tax exemption," the activists said and expressed the hope that the parties will support efforts to bring transparency in the system. 

Saturday, June 8, 2013

JK Activists Hail CIC’s Judgment

Political Parties under RTI: JK Activists Hail CIC’s Judgment

June 8, 2013
Srinagar:  The activists in Jammu and Kashmir state working for the promotion of Right to Information Act have hailed the recent judgment of the Central Information Commission where it had been ordered that the Political parties like BJP, Congress, BSP, NCP, CPI and CPI-M fall under the ambit of the act and where the heads of these political parties have been asked to designate public information officers and the appellate authorities as per the provisions of the Right to information Act2005.
In a statement issued to press, the activists have also congratulated the members of the  Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) an NGO who took the issue of bringing political parties under RTI act to the Central Information Commission.    Demanding similar order from the J & K State Information Commission , the  activists have urged the  State Commission to direct all the political parties to designate PIO’s and follow all the provisions of the J & K RTI law. They have also asked the  Jammu and Kashmir government to reinstate Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Rules 2010 which were unfortunately repealed vide SRO no 279 issued by the GAD on 30th Aug/2012. The joint statement has been endorsed by activist Balvinder Singh, Convener, Sangarsh RTI Movement, Dr. Shiekh Ghulam  Rasool, Chairman, JK RTI Movement, RTI Activist Raman Sharma, Deepak Sharma, Advocate Dewaker Sharma, Dr. Shiekh Ghulam  Rasool, Convener JK RTI Movement, Advocate Ashraf Wani Farooq Kuthu, Bilal Bhat, Tanvir Hussain Khan,  Rahil, Munish Sharma and others. 

Saturday, June 1, 2013

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.  
















Sunday, May 19, 2013

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.

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

Journey Line


JK Newspoint


Raman Sharma




Monday, May 13, 2013

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


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.


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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.     

Saturday, May 4, 2013

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


Tuesday, April 30, 2013

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...

The Shadow







Raman Sharma

Pof. Atul Dhar, principal of GCET.


Surinder, an Engineering Student


Balvinder Singh