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| Information commissioner Nazir retiring, SIC to go defunct | | Non-serious J&K govt! | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
Early Times Report
jammu, Sept 30: Apart from continued disturbances in valley, bureaucratic hurdles coupled with non-serious attitude of state government has defeated the very purpose for which Jammu and Kashmir State Information Commission (SIC) was created.
Seven months have passed since the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) G.R Sufi completed his tenure on February 29, 2016 but there has been no movement on the file for the appointment of two members to the commission. What makes this deliberate silence serious is the fact that the lone member Nazir Ahmed is set to retire on October 8, 2016after completing five years in office.
The retirement of Nazir Ahmed would render the State Information Commission (SIC) defunct, thus keeping up with the practice of previous state governments of taking autonomous institutions for transparency and accountability 'non-seriously'. It is highly unlikely that the state government would be able to fill-up vacant positions in SIC before the last man standing in the institution retires and the institution becomes completely defunct.
This is the attitude of the state government despite the fact that High Court in response to a miscellaneous petition seeking intervention of highest court of Jammu and Kashmir in filling up of two vacant posts of Information Commission. On July 19, 2016; High Court comprising of first puisine Judge Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar and Justice B S Walia issued notices to the Chief Secretary and Commissioner Secretaries of General Administration and Law Departments seeking to know steps initiated by the government to make the transparency watchdog fully functional.
But state left even the court waiting with both Chief Secretary as well as Commissioner Secretaries of GAD and law department failing to file any response to the miscellaneous petition. This shows how non-serious government is towards an institution which was created purely to increase transparency and accountability in the working and functioning of state government. RTI activists agree that bureaucrats do not want SIC to function.
They assert that bureaucrats find commoners approaching them with RTI seeking details right from amount of money spent on purchasing coffee bags and biscuits to cars and other costly items. They agree that this irritation has resulted in the commission being reduced to single member with virtually no effort being made to make it fully functional.
The lone Information Commission Nazir Ahmed, a retired Engineer is working overnight to ensure that people do not lose hope in this commission and stop coming to it like they have already done in the case of State Accountability Commission and State Human Rights Commission. But he had just 8 days to do whatever he feels would be for the betterment of the SIC. If sources are to be believed, Law Secretary Ashraf Mir is yet to even start preliminary exercise for finding out credible faces who could be given responsibility of making the commission a vibrant institution.
They added that Law Secretary is waiting for the government to issue some directions in this regards. Sources further said that the Law Secretary did have some informal discussions with Chief Secretary about making the State Information commission fully functional but the exercise is yet to start. As per J&K Right to Information Act, commission is comprised of Chief Information Commissioner and two Information Commissioner. Shockingly, at present there is only one Information Commissioner and the posts of Chief Information Commissioner and another Information Commissioner are lying vacant since the last more than two months.
Information Commissioner, Dr S.K Sharma completed his tenure on October 31, 2015 but no process was set into motion to peace new incumbent and the Commission continued to work with reduced strength. Sagginess towards filling post of Information Commissioner persisted for several months and finally the commission became defunct' when the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), G.R Sufi completed his tenure on February 29, 2016.
Although Nazir Ahmed, who is lone Information Commissioner in State Information Commission, is trying his level best to dispose of the cases, what result a commission would yield without its head and second arm can be easily presumed. After death of former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, state was under Governor's rule. "Governor could have passed an ordinance to extend the tenure of the then Chief Information Commissioner but he preferred not to do so. |
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