Srinagar, Jammu, March 18 (KIP)- Former Jammu and Kashmir State Chief
Information Commissioner (CIC), Mr. G. R. Sufi today said the
institutions, departments and other agencies, receiving RTI
applications, should ensure prompt response to the applicants, without
inordinate delays.
“The delay in providing the requisite information to the applicant
defeats the very purpose of the RTI Act,” Mr. G. R. Sufi said while
addressing the faculty and students of the Department of Convergent
Journalism and Law, during a function, observing 7-years of RTI Act,
organised jointly by the aforementioned departments at Nowgam-I
academic block of the University.
Dean School of Media Studies, Prof. S. Fayyaz, Head Department of Law,
Dr. Sheikh Showkat, Director Directorate of Students Welfare, Dr.
Fayaz A Nikka, Coordinator, Department of Convergent Journalism, Mr.
Asif Khan, RTI Activist, Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat, and other faculty
members were also present.
Highlighting the importance and use of the Right to Information Act,
Mr. G R Sufi said the Right to Information Act (RTI) has been
introduced in the Jammu and Kashmir to bring more transparency and
accountability in the Governance and the working of other
institutions. The RTI Act is a powerful tool which should be utilized
to make the Government answerable, he said.
Mr. Sufi asked the people, especially the students and other
stakeholders to proactively use the Act in seeking information in
order to get their grievances redressed. “The Act is also used by the
media persons in order to seek correct information after they receive
complaints about alleged irregularities and scams in government
departments and other institutions,” he said.
Mr. Sufi also emphasized the need of immediately appointing the State
Chief Information Commissioner for J&K, the post, which fell vacant,
after his term ended.
RTI Activist, Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat while speaking on the occasion
said that “there are many Government departments who have denied to
share information to RTI applicants and when the information seekers
challenged their orders before State Information Commission, the
Public Information Officers of these departments gave the same
statement before Information Commission as well. As SIC is not an
investigating agency, the matter could not be probed. SIC could only
demand an affidavit from the public authorities , and many PIO’s gave
in writing on an affidavit that their record got damaged , but till
date not a single high level committee has been constituted to probe
it,”.
He appealed to the Governor, Mr. N N Vohra to hold a round table on
strengthening J&K Right to Information Act. “All the stake holders
should be invited and a clear direction has to be given to the
Government for ensuring voluntary / proactive disclosure of
information through official websites,” he added.
Head Department of Law, Dr. Sheikh Showkat, said the RTI is a potent
tool in the hands of students, researchers and masses, who can make
everyone accountable, by using it. “However, the implementation of the
Act is a distant dream, unless and until the people are made aware
about its utility,” he said and underscored the need of translating
the Act in Urdu, the official language of Jammu and Kashmir.
Dean School of Media Studies, Prof. S. Fayyaz, asked the students to
aware the masses about the advantages of the Act. “The students can
play a pivotal role in implementing the Act by creating awareness
among masses about the benefits of the Act,” he said while proposing
the vote of thanks.
Welcoming the guests, Coordinator, Department of Convergent
Journalism, Mr. Asif Khan, said, “RTI is imperative to media given its
power to provide access to information. Media powered with right to
information can address issues of society.” He added that the
department has ensured RTI component in the course so to aware students of journalism about it.
Assistant Prof. Mr. Rashid Maqbool conducted the programme proceedings.
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