Daily Excelsior: Jammu: Sunday, December 17, 2017.
J&K State
Information Commission (SIC) organised a round table with RTI activists of
Jammu under the chairmanship of Chief Information Commissioner Khurshid A
Ganai, here today.
State
Information Commissioner Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Secretary JKSIC AK Pandita, Joint
Registrar Gulam Mohi-ud-Din, Deputy Secretary Vishwajeet, various senior RTI
activists of Jammu region besides senior officers of the Commission were
present during the interaction.
During the
round table, the activists made many suggestions for strengthening the
implementation of RTI Act in the State.
Among various
suggestions the activists recommended revival of J&K RTI Rules 2010 and use
of penalty provisions in the RTI Act by the State Information Commission to
penalise the erring Public Information Officers for delay and for providing
incomplete information.
They also
demanded that instructions should be issued by the State Govt and the SIC to
impress upon the PIOs and First
Appellate Authorities to ensure that the
RTI applicants are not discouraged or harassed which is unfortunately the
experience of many applicants.
The activists
called for greater awareness among the general public for more effective use of
RTI to achieve the objectives of transparency, accountability and corruption
free governance.
The CIC
thanked the activists for playing a proactive role in popularising the use of
RTI and for the suggestions made by them. He assured that the State Information
Commission will give serious consideration to all the suggestions made by them
and further streamline the working of the Commission to facilitate expeditious
disposal of the appeals and complaints.
The CIC
informed that the SIC is in constant touch with the State Government and steps are under way to sort out problems
coming in the way of smooth implementation of RTI.
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