news details |
|
|
| NSF lambasts Govt for making SIC defunct | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 11: National Secular Forum (NSF) lambasted the State Government for willfully making the State Information Commission (SIC) defunct.
Addressing the meeting here today, Dr Vikas Sharma State President NSF said that because of the callous approach of the government towards transparency and accountability, the SIC in the State has become a defunct body after the retirement of lone Information Commissioner Nazir Ahmed in November this year.
"The government has not shown any seriousness to appoint any Information Commissioner and Chief Information Commissioner even after a year of their retirement," Dr Sharma said adding that though the strengthening and implementation of RTI and providing a transparent and accountable government was one of the main agenda in the election manifesto of both the coalition partners but it is saddened that after coming into power the same parties are leaving no stone unturned to stonewall the accountability and transparency in the government functioning and thereby denying the common people from exercising their fundamental right to Know and make the government accountable.
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. 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.
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 meeting included, Sukhdev Singh, Surjit Choudhary, Narinder Singh, Papinder Singh, Amit Sanotra, Varun Dogra, Reshikesh Rana, Surjit Singh(Shidu), and others . |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
