Early Times Report
Srinagar, Sept 1 : In a move to train youngmen with regard to RTI act, the J&K RTI Movement organized one day district level workshop in Town Hall, Tral in Pulwama district on August 31, 2013 in collaboration with Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).
The training workshop was aimed at helping participants stand up for the basic values of democracy and demand transparency in every department of the State. Students from different academic backgrounds actively participated in the session.
The welcome address was delivered by Bilal Bhat, State Coordinator, J&K RTI Movement. He made the participants familiar with the history of the Movement in Kashmir and the work carried out by their activists since then. He also gave a brief introduction of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and its role in creating awareness about the Right To Information.
Dr Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, Chairman, J&K RTI Movement, and Co-Convener NCPRI threw light on the provisions and rules of the Right To Information Act, 2009.
While tracing the birth and growth of the Movement in the world, Dr Sheikh illustrated the art of crafting an application and the procedures to be followed thereof. "Such awareness programs should have been organized by the government itself as per Section 23 of the RTI Act, 2009," said Dr Sheikh, while expressing anguish over the unawareness about RTI Act among the people of Tral.
Inam un Nabi, senior RTI and Human Rights activist primarily discussed RTI as a human right among the participants while Advocate Ashraf, Chief Legal Advisor, RTI Movement, laid stress on the Section 4 of the Act according to which every public authority shall provide as much information suo moto to the public at regular intervals through various means of communications so that the public has minimum resort to the use of the Act to obtain information. He urged the Governmentto implement Section 4 in letter and spirit. "We are committed to conduct such programs in each village and town of J&K," said Farooq Kuttoo, Chief Spokesperson, J&K RTI Movement. |
