J-K Government’s dilution of the state’s strong Right to Information Act continues to be a subject of debate among the people in the state.  On August 30, government mysteriously issued new set of rules to govern the implementation of the law in the state. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah explained the move as an effort to bring the Act in line with the central law. But the new rules have subtly undermined the effectiveness of the law as a tool to expose corruption in the government. The move has not only been opposed by the former Central Chief Information Commissioner and the Chairman of National Commission for Minorities, Wajahat Habibullah who in a letter to Chief Minister has conveyed his disagreement over the amendments but the Chief Information Commissioner G R Sufi is also not happy. Sufi has already gone public saying that the Commission as a stakeholder was not consulted by the government before notifying new rules. In response, the government said that the amendments to the law were suggested by the Commission. But now an RTI has revealed that the Commission had asked for no radical changes.  This makes government’s decision to redraft the rules indefensible. The six page document which has taken over from the 27 page 2010 rules has undermined the authority of the  Commission. Its power to force the extraction of information from the government departments and institutions has been severely curtailed. New rules are silent on the SIC’s power to summon the officials, to impose fines and enforce its decisions.  What is more, the rules were sprung on people without any public debate or effort to consult the Commission which is a stakeholder in such an exercise under 2010 rules. Surprisingly, the move has come from a government that prides itself on establishing people-friendly mechanisms like Public Service Guarantee Act, Grievance Redressal Cell and a strong RTI Act.  The RTI law had gone a long way to empower people and introduce an element of accountability into the system. This is why the effort to water it down seems inexplicable and uncalled for. We hope that the government takes into account the huge amount of public displeasure over the new rules and restores the law to its original 2010 form.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 16 Sep 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 16 Sep 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 17 Sep 2012 00:00:00 IST