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Government sluggish on RTI implementation by Umer Maqbool

While Jammu and Kashmir government makes tall claims about the implementation of Right to Information (RTI) Act, on the contrary its departments are not furnishing the mandatory information to the State Information Commission (SIC), thereby affecting monitoring and reporting of the law.

Informed sources told Greater Kashmir that majority of the administrative and field departments of the state are defaulters vis-a-vis submission of the quarterly and annual information to SIC on monitoring of the Act.
 
“Till this time, out of 31 administrative departments, 11 have submitted returns either completely or partially while responses of other 20 are awaited.  And out of 188 field departments, 37 have filed information leaving rest 151  defaulters,” sources disclosed adding that more than 70 percent information is  pending  with the administrative and field departments.
 
As per RTI Act, the government departments have to submit to SIC on quarterly and annual basis the details of RTI requests received and other relevant information including details of disciplinary action if any taken against the defaulting officials and the amount of charges collected by each public authority under the Act. The said, information is needed for monitoring and preparation of the annual reports by the Commission which is to be submitted to the state legislature.

Sources further disclosed that Finance, Home, Higher Education, Industries and Commerce, General Administration and Law Department have submitted the relevant information, while as Rural Development, Roads and Buildings, Health and Medical Education, Social Welfare, Transport, Tourism, Estates, Revenue and Relief Department and others are disregarding the law by not furnishing the requisite details.

“Even some of them have not yet submitted information once after the Commission was constituted,” they disclosed, adding that non-submission of information is likely to delay the preparation of annual report by SIC.
Even the letters shot by SIC from time to time during the past two years have failed to evoke requisite information from the government departments.

“As per the periodicity of furnishing the requisite report, every department/organization was required to furnish the information in the prescribed format on quarterly basis and a consolidated report for the year 2010-11 was in any case to be furnished by 15th of April, 2011 but the same is yet to be received by the Commission, with the result it could not compile the data for formulation of its annual report, a statutory requirement under the Act,” deputy secretary SIC, MA Wani vide letter number - SICJ/26 inf/2010 dated 13 / 05 / 2011 informed different departments.

“Kindly refer Commission letter No. dated 13.12.2010, 22.03.2011 and13.05.2011 on the subject. The requisite information in a consolidated form for the period 4/2010 to 3/2011 (2010-11) has not been received so far.  The Commission has, however, received information in a scattered manner from a few departments/offices which is not reflective of the period for which it is reported nor given as per prescribed format,” the SIC wrote in another letter on 06/07/2011.