KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
J&K RTI Movement Monday said that State Information Commission (SIC) is not a rehabilitation centre for retired bureaucrats, as the section 12 (5) of J&K RTI Act 2009 clearly states that the state chief information commissioner and information commissioners shall be a person of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience of law, science and technology, social service, Management, Journalism, administration and governance.
“Hence it is not imperative to appoint a retired bureaucrat to the said posts, the state government should move beyond and to take path-breaking steps in the appointment of commissioners. Making State information Commission functional will sent positive signal to RTI users and other stakeholders,” said Dr Ghulam Rasool Sheikh of RTI Movement.
“Technically, the SIC ceased to exist after the superannuation of the Chief Information commissioner. The non-serious approach of Government and people sitting at the helm towards the functioning of the State Information Commission can be gauged by the fact that a single commissioner is running the whole show. The Government needs to take requisite steps to appoint the vacant posts in the SIC,” a statement issued by RTI Movement said last evening.
“J&K RTI Movement also demands the restoration of RTI rules 2010, effective implementation of Section 4 and Section 23 in the state, inclusion of RTI act in curriculum of Schools, Colleges and Universities.
These rules also provide the legal basis for the registry, the secretariat and the staff of the SIC. It also provides for a wing in the commission to monitor non-compliance with the provisions of the RTI Act in various public authorities. All these provisions are missing in the RTI rules notified in 2012,” said convener of J&K RTI Movement Syed Junaid Andrabi.
