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| SIC Commission still a headless body, losing credibility | | |
ASHWANI
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, July 13: Despite the repeated demand of various Voluntary organisations, the Government till date has failed to appoint the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and two information commissioners in State Information Commission (SIC) of J&K and not withstanding of its claims to weed out the corruption by showing the door to corrupt officials in the state the Commission still continues to be a headless body.
The State Information Commission (SIC) which came into being on March 20 ,2008 after the passage of the Bill by State Legislature has lost its credibility as it is only functioning with a secretary who is not in a position to coop up with the issues brought into its notice from time to time.
According to official data's the Commission has so far received 1000 applications from the people seeking information under the RTI Act and though the authorities claim that they have disposed off 70 percent cases but 80 percent applicants not to speak of RTI Organisations are not satisfied with the reply given by the authorities.
Even the Information given by the Government agencies under RTI Act to applicants is not correct and up-to-date but without the proper constitution of the Commission the applicants are not in a position to seek redressal of their grievances.
Despite the repeated pleas of the RTI organisation the Government is not taking any step in appointment of CIC and two ICs in the state for speedy disposal of the cases and dispensation of justice under RTI Act, said Balwinder Singh, convenor Sangarsh the organisation working in the field.
Even the Assistant Public Information Offices and Public Information Officers appointed in respective Government departments do not possess the basic knowledge about the RTI, said Singh, adding though these APIOs and PIOs are supposed to inform the people on phone seeking any information under RTI Act do not respond properly.
The applications in various Government offices are pending for last four to six months but the authorities do not bother to dispose them, said Singh. One of the main problem and lacuna which the State RTI Act has that unlike other states of the country Rs. 50 are charged as fee for filling an application while in the rest of the country it is only Rs. 10, he said. Likewise Rs. 10 are charged under RTI Act for each page of reply given by the concerned organisation while in other states it is only Rs 2, he added.
There is a growing demand of making these charges at par with other countries of the country, he said.
Moreover, the authorities are bound to organise the training session for Government officials especially for PIOS and APIOs under Section 23 (!)(d) of the Act, but till date the authorities have failed to conduct such a training session.
Moreover the authorities are also bound to keep the budgetary provisions for launching the awareness campaigning but till date it has failed to launch this drive, said another RTI activist Veer Saraf.
Besides the Government has to prepare RTI user guide in Hindi, Urdu, English and other local languages within 18 months of the formation of the Act, though 16 months have elapsed so far but no head way has also been made in this regard.
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