Wajahat appeals govt to set up Information Commission in J&K

SYED ALI SAFVI

BUDGAM, Apr 22: Chief Information Commissioner of government of India, Wajahat Habibullah, has appealed to Jammu and Kashmir government to set up state information commission to bring transparency and accountability in the administration.

“It is imperative for the state government to set up State Information Commission. The state government has already implemented the RTI act, but the onus is on the government and the people of the state to take it forward and further strengthen it,” said Habibullah who had wished to join J&K state information commission as its chief.

“Dreams sometimes cannot be fulfilled,” he told media persons on the sidelines of a day-long awareness programme cum workshop, organized by J&K RTI movement in collaboration with commonwealth human rights initiative (CHRI) and district administration Budgam at Sheikh-ul-Alam Hall here.

Habibullah was the chief guest on the occasion. Stating that complaints on human rights violations can also be sought under right to information (RTI) act, Habibullah said that so far his office had only received one application regarding human rights violation.

“Complaints about custodial killings, disappearance or complain against BSF, CRPF or CSF can be filed before the commission,” he said. J&K has its own laws, and I believe RTI would be more successful in J&K than in any other state, he said.

Underlying the role of Panchayats in strengthening RTI act, Habibullah said that Panchayat elections should be held in the state and subsequently Panchayats should be empowered so that they act as a medium between government and masses.

“Panchayats’ role is very vital in spreading awareness about RTI and for its successful implementation,” he said. He said that RTI law in India had become so popular that several countries had adopted it to bring transparency in the governance. He said Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia had already implemented the law.

“In Bangladesh, even private sector has also been brought under the ambit of RTI act,” he said, adding that recently World Bank has also adopted the act. Habibullah said that Delhi high court should be complimented for its repeated verdict to induce transparency as desired under RTI act.

Stating that the government of India was not doing its best to spread awareness about RTI act, he said the onus was on the people to spread awareness among those who do not have any idea about the act. He said that when people realize that their grievances are not mitigated and they are not being heard, they resort to stone pelting.

He said that the official records in government offices should be digitized so that people do not have to go to offices to seek information.

“In other parts of the country, people get information on their cell phones,” he said. Referring to a study conducted in 11 states by one of his friends, Habibullah said that 40 per cent of the people who had availed of RTI act were illiterate.

“Thanks to RTI act, a common man has been empowered,” he said. “People can even seek information about the material used in the construction of roads.”

In her address, Carin Joda Fisher, a German-America working on rural development in remote areas of Kashmir, said that she envisioned an environment disaster on horizon in Kashmir. “I have been all over India, but I have never seen anything like this,” she said.

Fisher counsels timber smugglers and wants to create alternative livelihood arrangements for them. Fisher said that her focus was on environment and she had come to know that the environmental catastrophe in the valley was the direct result of poverty.

“I don’t believe in arresting people who cut trees. They do this because they have no option. Timber smugglers should be provided alternative livelihood if government wants to save forests,” she said, adding that she had worked for two years with timber smugglers of 60 villages in Baramulla district.

“I try to look at horticulture, agriculture to create an alternative livelihood arrangement for timber smugglers,” Fisher said.

She said that there was lot of money flown from the centre into Kashmir, but unfortunately in remote areas there was no evidence of money reaching to the needy. Fisher said there was a political interference in the distribution of money, and the officials had no fault as they had no choice.

“RTI is a wonderful tool for people to have the information about the funding they are entitled to,” she said. Speaking on the occasion, district development commissioner Budgam, Mohammad Rafi, asked the district administration to look at it (RTI act) as instrument of support.

“People have every right to know about the ongoing development works in the district,” he told his officers. “District administration is liable to give information to the applicant under RTI act.”

He said that RTI would empower a common man and transform electoral democracy into participatory democracy.

“I assure you all who are present here and the activists of RTI movement, on behalf of the district administration, that officials of the district will extend their support and cooperation to the applicant who seeks information under RTI act,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, convener J&K RTI movement, Dr Raja Muzaffar, said that the RTI act would transform electoral democracy into participatory democracy.

“If a bill is passed in the assembly, the legislators do not consult members of the civil society or the people they are representing,” he said.

He said that MLAs should consult people of their respective constituencies before passing any law in the assembly. He said that government departments need to digitise their official record so that it is easily available on net to those who seek information. Additional district development commissioner Budgam, and a few activists of J&K RTI movement also spoke on the occasion. Later, a question-answer session was also held.

Commotion at workshop

The workshop proceeding took an ugly turn when deputy commissioner, Budgam Mohammd Rafi objected to spate of accusations against the district administration hurled by vice chairman J&K RTI movement, Dr Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, in his address.

Rasool was pinpointing loopholes in the functioning of some departments of district administration when the deputy commissioner got up from his seat and asked Rasool to stop “hurling accusations after accusations against my district officials”.

Following a verbal dual between Rafi and Rassol, Rafi’s guards whisked away Rasool. Soon the RTI activists present in the hall objected and while raising slogans they left the hall.

"We are public servants by conviction, not by compulsion,” said Rafi. “We are answerable to God for all our actions”. He appreciated the youths associated with RTI movement and lauded their work, but asked them not to hurl accusations in the name of RTI without any evidence.

“The idea should not be to hurl accusations of all kind as if the officer is in the dock,” he said. “This is against the very idea of holding such sessions.”

He asked Rasool, who is also assistant surgeon in directorate of health services department, to “make a decision today”.

“He should take a position today. He has not got the mandate to hurl accusations after accusation against government officials without given them the opportunity to defend themselves,” he said. He appealed the RTI activists, who had left the hall, to come back so that the programme could be resumed without any He said that RTI is a medium to bring transparency and accountability in the governance, not to spread aggression.