File Your RTI Application From Your Cell Phone Now

The residents of Jammu & Kashmir will finally be able to seek information under the Right to Information Act (RTI) in Online mode. For the last many years the RTI campaigners have been demanding this facility in J&K but this was always delayed by the Government. The Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo recently, while taking stock of the setting up of an online RTI portal in J&K impressed upon the officers to make all efforts to launch an online RTI portal by 10th of December.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Finance and IT Departments; Commissioner Secretary, General Administration Department )GAD), State Informatics Officer (SIO) and other officers. The CS while going through the plan of the NIC for setting up of Online RTI portal which is a very significant public service urged the officers to create an end to end digital solution for it along with a proper digital interface for payment of application fees and sending email and SMS alerts to the RTI applicants as well like it is done by Central Govt Departments. For the last few weeks a lot of exercise is being done to make sure the online RTI portal is launched by December 10th.

Constant Communication

My colleague Syed Adil continued to make constant communication with the Govt on this issue. I myself wrote a series of articles on the issue. In September this year Syed Adil received an official communication from Information Technology Department J&K Govt, in response to his online grievance filed on the Samadhan Portal. The official communication dated 04.09.2024 signed by the Under Secretary to Govt IT Department wherein he said that online RTI was under active consideration of Govt. In fact some government departments had started rolling out online portals a few months back. The PWD (R&B) Department issued an order No: 273-PW (R&B) of 2024 Dated: 17.09.2024 wherein Shuaib Mohammad Naikoo Deputy Secretary was appointed as Nodal Officer for the purpose of roll out of RTI portal in J&K in PWD-R&B Department.

Training of officers

The Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo during the recent meeting for launching online RTI service in J&K advised the officers for imparting necessary training to designated Public Information Officers (PIOs) and First Appellate Authorities (FAAs). He directed the senior officers especially administrative secretaries to make sure all the PIOs, FAAs in all government departments and at district level are well versed about the use of RTI portal so that RTI applications are disposed off swiftly. He also asked for the necessary security audit of the portal before its launch here.

The Commissioner Secretary, GAD, Sanjeev Verma apprised the meeting about the present status of the development of this portal. He revealed that the portal is based on the software that is employed by the Department of Personnel and Training - DoPT, Govt of India. The State Informatics Office -SIO of NIC, JS Modi informed the meeting that nearly 3300 PIO/FAAs have to be on-boarded on the portal before dedicating it to the public. He made out that an end to end solution for filing of applications would be developed for the UT of Jammu & Kashmir.

Benefits of Online RTI

There are several benefits in filing an online RTI application as applicants don’t have to travel all the way to reach the Govt office. There is no need to buy the Indian Postal Orders -IPOs to pay the application fees. These IPOs are hardly available in Govt offices. The PIOs cannot say that he or she hasn’t received the RTI application as digital RTI application provides the applicant with the instant receipt. The RTI portal ensures that the process of seeking information from government agencies is transparent and accountable. This is a convenient and easy way to file RTI requests. The RTI applicants can track the status of their applications in real-time. The portal provides access to information about public authorities, public information officers, appellate authorities etc. The citizens can file first appeals online if they are not satisfied with the information provided. The applicants living below the poverty line (BPL) can file RTI applications without paying any application fee.

Suggestions

While going through the portal we found that an important feature is missing. We would suggest introducing a “My Account” (User profile) feature within the RTI portal. This feature would allow registered users to keep a record of their RTI applications, One time personal details will be stored on the portal to track the status, and access responses conveniently. With this feature the citizens can maintain a comprehensive history of their RTI applications.

The portal can facilitate direct and secure communication between applicants and Public Authorities. The RTI applicants can provide feedback on their RTI experiences, contributing to the continuous improvement of the system. We believe that implementing this feature would align with the government’s commitment to transparency and efficiency. I would also suggest the Govt to undertake rigorous training programmes at district and sub division level so that all the First Appellate Authorities -FAA and Public Information Officers PIOs get well versed with the online RTI portal.

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is Chairman and Founder of J&K RTI Movement.