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| Expresses inability to dispose off pending RTI applications | | CIC laments staff shortage | | Jehangir Rashid
SRINAGAR, Dec 21: Expressing displeasure over shortage of staff, Chief Information Commissioner, G R Sufi today said that State Information Commission (SIC) is not in position to depute teams so as to check the pendency of Right to Information (RTI) applications in the different Government departments of State.
In his speech at a State level consultation on role of RTI in promoting effective governance in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Information Commissioner expressed lament that major chunk of information provided under RTI Act has remained unutilized. He said the information seekers have either kept the information close to their chests or not bothered to follow it up.
"I must admit that there is shortage of staff at the commission and it is due to this reason that we have not been able to depute teams in order to check how many RTI applications are pending in various departments. As on date it is not possible to give the exact details about the RTI applications in the different departments," said Sufi.
Sufi said some of the Public Information Officers (PIOs) have not taken trouble to study RTI Act adding it is due to this reason that they provide wrong or incomplete information to the information seekers. He asked the PIOs to pull up their socks on this front so that they do not mislead people while providing wrong information.
"Follow up with regard to information provided under RTI Act is missing and I have hardly received any feedback from the information seekers. The basic objective of State Information Commission is to ensure that information is provided to information seekers under the RTI Act. The purpose for which information is sought gets lost since the whole process is not taken to logical conclusion," said Chief Information Commissioner.
Sufi said that State Information Commission has passed orders in 24,000 cases adding that majority of cases relate to corruption in the state. He said very few cases have reached Vigilance Organization or High Court subsequently. He said there is no provision of withdrawal of complaint under RTI Act adding that PIO has got no authority to allow an information seeker to withdraw his or her complaint.
"It has been observed that people are cynical about RTI Act and it is time to appreciate change even if it is small. There are numerous success stories of RTI and this should encourage people to come forward. Information should be sought so that there is a change in overall societal set up and relief is provided to the common masses," said Sufi.
In her remarks, Dr. Jahan Ara Jabeen said that the public authorities should proactively disclose information that concerns people at large more so about people oriented schemes launched by the departments. She while referring to recent survey said that 176 departments have failed to upload latest information on their websites.
The consultation programme was also addressed by journalists like Zahir-ud-din, Mufti Islah, Masood Hussain and Raashid Maqbool along with Prof. Gul Mohammad Wani, Department of History, University of Kashmir, Human Rights Activist, Khurram Parvez and Advocate Faisal Qadri. |
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