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Govt strangulating RTI; must appoint CIC, ICs at earliest: NSF
Protest against Govt for defunct SIC held
12/5/2016 9:37:54 PM
Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 5: Accusing the coalition government for rendering the SIC completely defunct, a strong massive protest demonstration against the subversion of RTI Act in the state here today. Protesters were led by Vikas Sharma State President National Secular Forum (NSF).
Lambasting the State Government's casual attitude towards the SIC having led to its redundancy, Dr Vikas Sharma recalled that the Ministers and MLAs particularly those of BJP were in notion that while the transparency was good for others, they should be left free and unquestioned. He said that the BJP's resistance to RTI Act came to fore when one of the BJP MLAs moved a bill in the previous session of Assembly for the amendment of J&K RTI Act and alleged misuse of the Act by the so called "unscrupulous elements".
He maintained that the BJP-PDP Government was deliberately sabotaging the RTI Act in the State to end the regime of accountability and transparency. Dr Sharma regretted that with the lone Information Commissioner completing his term on November 17, following the retirement of two members including the CIC, the State Information Commission has completely become defunct.
Vikas Sharma further said that the PDP-BJP Coalition government has ridiculed the very idea of Right to Information as the government deliberately rendered it defunct by not appointing new members of State information Commission. "The aggrieved information seekers are totally confused as the First Appellate Authorities of several departments are deliberately pushing them to go for Second Appeal knowing that SIC is lying defunct which amounts to mockery of the situation," he said.
"Previously it was unrest in the Valley owing to which none of the Jammuites could go to SIC office when lone Information Commissioner was entertaining appeals in Srinagar office but now since Capital is here, in Jammu, the SIC office has gone defunct. The aggrieved RTI seekers from Jammu have been suffering for the last six months but the state govt which makes tall claims of good governance has failed to fulfil its basic duty which is highly apathetic," he lambasted.
He mentioned that the CIC before his retirement had written to the State Government to appoint the new CIC and the Information Commissioners well in advance but all his efforts were in vain. Moreover, it was due to the State Government's apathy the GAD had not even prepared the panel of the probables for these posts which only exposed the bitter truth that the coalition government was hell bent to kill the transparency law for its own vested interests.
While demanding immediate appointment of CIC and ICs to reconstitute the Commission, Sharma sought an explanation from the State Govt on the sabotage of RTI Act.
"The common masses including aggrieved and disadvantaged sections had pinned high hopes with the enactment of the RTI Act which had been based on the objective of transforming conventional electoral democracy into participative democracy," he said and added that "The people expected that the time bound provision of information under the Act would not only ensure accountability but also curb corruption and other malpractices."
He regretted that with the SIC being turned defunct, it would further encourage the unscrupulous officials, political helmsmen and other elements in the State for breeding patronized corruption and other vices. Among those who were present in the Protest included, Papinder Singh, Surjit Choudhary, Surjit Choudhary, Amit Sanotra, Reshikesh Rana, Deepak Khajuria, Mohit Singh, Vipul Neeraj, Anshu Sharma, Varun, and others.
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