Govt-Civil Society Dialogue!
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took a resourceful initiative by holding a Civil Society roundtable in Srinagar recently. Such meetings are held by every Govt but that is like a formality and there is less commitment and genuineness in those meetings. This meeting has more significance as it was held at a time when Omar Abdullah has recently been elected as Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir.
Omar Abdullah while deliberating on the fundamental rights of the people of J&K said that people don’t have the right to live with dignity as people have been feeling humiliated and harassed for the last several years.
“In our home, on our own land, don’t we have the right to live with dignity? Should we accept a life of humiliation and harassment wherever we go? We may secure everything that’s been flagged here, whether it’s roads, electricity, or water, but if we can’t live with dignity and our identity lacks value and honour, then all of this holds no real meaning. I want to assure you that we will fight for all that matters, but my first priority is to restore our dignity. We should have the first right to our lands, our employment, and our resources. Only then can we truly say that this country respects our honour and dignity.” the Chief Minister said
Omar Abdullah underlined the importance of frequent Govt-Civil Society engagement. He accepted the fact that Govt usually seeks intervention of civil society and starts a dialogue process in difficult times, “but this time, we initiated the interaction right from the start” he said while addressing the gathering at SKICC Srinagar.
He said that establishing a regular contact is essential, and if we (Govt-Civil Society) can meet at least twice a year, it would be of great significance.
The meeting was attended by the representatives from various sectors such as Trade, Tourism, Education, Industry, Health, and Transport, as well as Houseboat and Shikara Owners. Former Judges and Bureaucrats also attended this meeting. From the Govt side other than the Chief Minister, the meeting was attended by newly appointed Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Chowdhary and Ministers Sakeena Itoo, Javid Ahmad Dar, Javed Rana. The Advisor to Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani and Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo were also present in the meeting along with several Administrative Secretaries and Police officials. Civil Society representatives presented a wide range of concerns and suggestions to the Chief Minister on the issue of Education, Health, Tourism, Trade etc. CM engaged with them attentively and assured his government’s commitment to accountability, transparency and public welfare.
Strengthening Civil Society
Civil Society means the entire range of organised groups and institutions that are independent of the state and non governmental in nature. This includes the non governmental organisations-NGOs, mass media, think tanks, activist groups, universities, religious and charity organisations. The civil society groups may support certain political parties and the state for larger public interest but that should not mean to seek political favours from the Government. Because of turmoil, conflict and political uncertainty for many decades, the Civil Society movement could not get strengthened in Jammu & Kashmir. It is the duty of the Government to handhold civil society groups by building their capacities through different national and international institutions. Colleges and Universities should be open to civil society dialogues and they should be allowed to hold seminars, workshops on a variety of issues even if that is against the Govt.
Civil Society intervention on RTI
I remember when the 2008 assembly elections were going to be held in J&K, we had been advocating for introducing a robust Right to Information law in J&K. The Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement was in constant touch with Omar Abdullah, the then Finance Minister A R Rather, the then Govt and other political leaders like M Y Tarigami. The constant dialogue and advocacy helped us a lot as J&K RTI Act 2009 was enacted.
The RTI was made part of NC’s election manifesto and the Govt headed by Omar Abdullah enacted J&K RTI Act 2009 on March 20th 2009. This law was better than the RTI Act 2005 (central act) as there was provision of time bound disposal of appeals. The then Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Information Commission Wajahat Habibullah also played a great role in that advocacy. After the law was enacted we held some meetings with Omar Abdullah and the Leader of Opposition Mehbooba Mufti to get the State Information Commission-JKSIC constituted. Finally G R Sufi the then Chief Commissioner Income Tax was appointed as J&K’s first State Chief Information Commission. But unfortunately J&K RTI Act 2009 like many other erstwhile state laws was repealed after article 370 was abrogated.
Conclusion
Civil society is like an amphitheatre for the expression of diverse interests. Different groups have great expertise in their relative field. If the Govt plans to formulate a tourism policy in J&K, the CM and Tourism Minister must hold a dialogue with tourism players first instead of officers of the Tourism Department. Similarly for preparing waste management programmes or restoring springs or water bodies expertise from NGOs working in this sector should be sought. The role of civil society groups is to do advocacy and their involvement with Govt and opposition is must. This makes our democratic institutions practicable.
These groups can be involved in supporting the newly appointed Ministers, MLAs so that their working becomes easy. During training of JKAS officers the role of civil society groups is must in association with IMPARD. This dialogue must continue and CM must ensure that his Ministers and Administrative Secretaries also hold such meetings off and on.
Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow. He is Founder/ Chairman J&K RTI Movement
