Workshop on Participatory Democracy & Good Governance

Kashmir Watch: Srinagar: Tuesday, 28 July 2015.

A one day workshop titled “Participatory democracy and Good Governance , the Role of Youth “ was organized at Institute of Management Public Administration and Rural Development (IMPA) Srinagar on Sunday . In his inaugural address State Chief Information Commission (CIC) G R Sufi gave a historical perspective of participatory democracy and good governance. He said that in the present time Right to Information Act (RTI) is the best tool for ensuring good governance . He said RTI is a revolutionary law which has helped many people in J&K to get justice from administration.

CIC said that J&K RTI Act needs some changes which include a provision of appointing the Information Commissioner’s without any delay as soon as the term of Chief Information commissioner (CIC) or Information Commissioner (IC) ends

Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Dr Shah Feasal spoke on use and misuse of social media . He urged upon people especially youth to make better and positive use of social media.

PDP youth leader and Political Analyst to Chief Minister Waheed ur Rehman Parra said that youth have been the biggest casualty in J&K right from 1947 onwards. He said Government is trying to ensure good governance by making people especially youth part of it . He said the initiatives for youth empowerment which should have been taken by Govt in past were taken by police and army.

Arjimand Hussain Talib columnist and international development expert responded to queries from the audience vis a vis youth and development. He laid emphasis on building a strong civil society movement in J&K.

The workshop was organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung India (FES India ) a German foundation based in India in association with Jammu Kashmir RTI Movement (Trust) and Fallah Foundation.

Damyanti Sridharan Senior Adviser FES India , Mandivi Projector Manager FES India , Dr Syed Abid Shah , IAS, Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat RTI Activist also spoke on the occasion. Dr Mushtaq Khan and Umar Javid coordinated the workshop.