1200 online services in J&K but RTI bypassed ?
For more than 5 years I along with the activists of Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement have been rigorously campaigning for an online RTI platform in J&K. I believe this is my 13th write-up on this issue during the last 4 to 5. In Greater Kashmir alone I have written at least 7 to 8 times on this topic in the last 4 years. Like other online services, Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement demands that citizens should have access to information through an electronic mode. How can the Govt talk about Artificial Intelligence and its role in good governance when its citizens are made to use obsolete ways and means of seeking information under the Right to Information Act (RTI)? The RTI Law will complete 20 years of its enactment next year and the provision of seeking information electronically was incorporated in this law itself in 2005. The section 6 (1) of RTI Act 2005 reads :
“A person, who desires to obtain any information under this Act, shall make a request in writing or through electronic means in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area in which the application is being made, accompanying such fee as may be prescribed.”
The RTI Act 2005 thus made it clear 20 years back that an applicant can file an application electronically but in Jammu & Kashmir there is no such provision available even as we are in the year 2024 and J&K being directly ruled by the Central Government. On one hand the J&K Govt claims to be number 1 in the country vis a vis e services by providing more than 1200 online services to people, but RTI is sidelined from these 1200 online services ?
Past assurances by CS
Two years back the Govt had given assurance to create an online RTI platform in J&K and the then Chief Secretary Dr A K Mehta had impressed upon all the Govt offices to make all the offline services online. As per the official statement issued on December 16th 2022, the Chief Secretary while reviewing the performance of the Information Technology (IT) Department in a meeting, directed the officers to prepare a list of all the services provided by the Govt departments. The Chief Secretary directed the officers to separate the services still offered through offline mode and prepare a roadmap for offering the same through an online platform with end-to-end digitisation by January 15th 2023. The Chief Secretary during the meeting asked the officers of the IT department to issue advisories to different Govt departments for conducting security audits of their official websites as well without any delay.
By January 15th 2023, all the offline services had to be made online but after more than a year the citizens in J&K continue to seek information under Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI Act) through the archaic and obsolete ways by going to office and filing an RTI application. In many cases the PIOs are not in office and the applicants have to come back moving from pillar to post in the Govt offices. Some applicants who are a bit well versed with RTI file it via speed post but in many cases the application isn’t responded to at all.
As on date, citizens intending to seek information under RTI in J&K write down an RTI application, take its printout, then purchase the Indian Postal Order (IPO) of Rs 10 which isn’t available in all the local post offices. The application is then sent via speed post / registered post or dropped personally in a Govt office. But this isn’t the case with central Govt offices. One can file an RTI application on a cell phone and pay application fees online. If J & K is directly ruled by the centre for the last more than 5 years, why are not the same services given to people here ?
Challenges for RTI applicants
Due to non availability of the online RTI facility in J&K, the applicants face lots of challenges. They face difficulty especially to deposit RTI application fees of Rs 10 in the shape of Indian Postal Order (IPO). To buy an Indian Postal Order (IPO) is a difficult task in J&K. I have not come across a single post office in any urban or rural area of J&K where Rs 10 Indian Postal Orders (IPOs) are available freely. I have been writing about it for the last many years now. In a city like Srinagar or Jammu, or Srinagar, one can buy an IPO from a post office that too in GPO , but in districts or tehsil headquarters this is impossible and in smaller villages or towns one cannot even think of getting an IPO from a local post office ? If a person from a remote village of Poonch or Kishtwar wants to file an RTI application, the RTI applicant will have to travel all the way from his or her village to district headquarters and again there is no guarantee that IPO will be available or not ?
Conclusion
On one hand the Govt of India claims that J&K is getting better governance post article 370 abrogation but on the ground people of J&K are deprived of having access to information through a digital platform. If Online RTI services are available in all central Govt organisations why can’t people of J&K have the access to similar services especially at a time when J&K is directly controlled by Govt of India? I am aware of the fact that denying access to information through digital mode to people of J&K isn't a policy of Govt of India , but this is indeed a governance deficit for which J&K bureaucrats should be made answerable by the Prime Ministers Office -PMO and Ministry of Home Affairs-MHA
Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow. He is Founder & Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Right to Information Movement.
