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| Section 6 (3) of RTI Act misused by Public Authorities | | Fresh example surfaced in DDM, J&K | |  Mohammad Sarfaraz
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Jan 15: Despite providing information to the RTI applicant in a stipulated time frame, section 6(3) of RTI act is misused by public authorities, and with the result SAC has failed to tighten the noose around the officials concerned, and people at the helm of affairs are trying to weaken the RTI act in JK.
In continuation of misuse of section 6 (3) of J&K RTI Act 2009 by Public authorities a fresh example surfaced in State Disaster Management Authority J&K where Director by- passed the directions of Public Information Officer and misused the said section.
RTI Activist Rasikh Rasool while talking to Early Times said that, "I filed an RTI Application in the month of October 2018 addressed to the Public Information Officer of State Disaster Management Authority J&K , PIO on 24/10/2018 vide communiqué number DMRRR/ER /RTI/ 376/ 2018, and the same was transferred to Director State Disaster Management Authority with directions to provide the information to the RTI Applicant, but Director SDMA failed to provide the requisite information within stipulated time".
Later on I filed First Appeal before first appellate authority of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation & Reconstru-ction Department, on 26/12/2018, said Rasikh.
He said that the under secretary of the department who is also Public Information Officer vide communiqué number DMRRR/ER/ RTI/ 376/ 2018 reminded the DDM regarding the matter and was asked to furnish point wise reply in the matter within two days positively, adding on 28/12/2018 vide number DMRRR/DDM/RTI/2018 Director Disaster Management instead of acting on the directions of PIO transferred the RTI Application to all the 22 Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of J&K and requested them to provide information directly to the applicant in light with section 6(3) of RTI Act.
"First and foremost point is requisite information should be available at SDMA, but despite lapse of more than three months no information was furnished by Director SDMA and after filling my First Appeal, Director Disaster Management is misusing section 6 (3) of the RTI by transferring my application to DCs to furnish the information directly to the applicant, said Rasikh.
In a question mark RTI activist Rasikh Rasool said, there are 22 districts in J&K if all DC didn't furnish the requisite information, then it mean I have to file 22 first appeals or complainants.
The desired information is all related to DDMAs that are units of state Disaster Management Authority, and under the Disaster Management line DDMA are not separate Public Authorities hence Director can't transfer my RTI Application, he needs to compile the information from all the DDMAs/DCs then to forward the same to me or PIO of his department, alleges Rasikh.
He said, PIO of the any public Authority can transfer RTI Application if required only once, but here I'm witnessing my Application is being transferred multiple times first by PIO to Director SDMA then Director SDMA to Deputy Commissioners, and irony is that the Director SDMA is also asking DC's to use section 6 (3) of the RTI Act if the information is not available. |
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