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| Blocking info unacceptable | | | Officials turning lockdown into an excuse to sit over the RTI applications has led to information blockade in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the media reports, RTI activists who have sought information since the outbreak of COVID-19 have been left in lurch as their queries are not being replied to.
The RTI is an important tool to make officials accountable. It keeps them under check. The RTI Act has to an extent made the government officials uncomfortable as they cannot deny information to anyone. After this act was implemented many skeletons tumbled out and brought such secrets to fore which left a common man bewildered.
During the past few weeks newspapers are carrying the reports about how the officials are trying to blame COVID-19 for everything, including the delay in providing the information under the RTI Act.
The officials who are not providing the information need to bear in mind that J&K is no more a state and its transition into a union territory has changed the system completely.
The government employees cannot take their jobs for granted anymore. They can face the axe anytime after completing 22-years of service or after attaining the age of 48-years. The government has amended the service rules and strict instructions have been passed to the head of departments to keep a watch over the employees who are doing their jobs in a lethargic way.
The officials who are sitting over the RTI applications should bear in mind that they are being watched and if they don’t mend their ways they will end up in a soup. These people should wake up from the deep slumber and act rather than taking everything in their stride. The process to identify the deadwood has commenced and the next step could be getting rid of the workforce which is not fitting into the new system.
If the information continues to remain blocked it will lead to RTI applications getting piled up and this could lead to information seekers filing pleas to know the reason for the replies being delayed.
One can understand that officials have got other works to do but they cannot just keep on giving one or other excuse for delaying the process of providing the information. And the lockdown is no excuse as it has ended long back. When almost everything has started moving blocking the information is unacceptable. |
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