RTI couldn’t go online in J&K?

For more than 5 years I, along with my colleagues have been rigorously campaigning for a digital platform to seek and receive information under the Right to Information Act, from different public authorities in J&K. This author has written extensively on this subject during the last 5 years but it seems this is not a priority at all for the Govt even after making more than 1000 services digital as claimed by J&K Govt.

Last year in November I along with several members of the Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement met with the then Chief Secretary Dr A K Mehta in Srinagar and discussed this issue with him. He gave us assurance that Online RTI would be a reality within weeks. The case was referred to the IT Department and it got stuck there.

New Development 

My colleague Syed Adil has been making constant communication with the Govt on this issue and very recently he received an official communication from Information Technology Department JK Govt, in response to his online grievance on the Samadhan Portal. The official communication dated 04.09.2024 signed by Under Secretary to Govt IT Department reads :

“With reference to your Grievance ID : GRV2024/205 dated 24.07.2024 and DLH/2024/3745 dated 9.08.2024 received on JK Samadhan Portal regarding status of implementation of online RTI services in Jammu & Kashmir. In this context it is to inform that the process of implementation of RTI portal is in active consideration and shall be implemented soon, as almost all formalities for its implementation have been completed and once GAD conveys its approval for go-ahead with regard to payment gateway , the same shall be implemented accordingly”

It is believed that some departments have started rolling out online portal and very recently PWD (R&B) Department issued a Govt order No: 273-PW (R&B) of 2024 Dated: 17.09.2024 wherein Shuaib Mohammad Naikoo Deputy was appointed as Nodal Officer for the purpose of Roll out of RTI portal in J&K in PWD -R&B Department

After our meeting with the Chief Secretary last year, several local newspapers carried the news that RTI would go online soon but even after 10 months we haven’t seen any development? But after Syed Adil again filed a grievance on the samadhan portal and also wrote to the Union Ministry of IT, the IT Department has responded but again with a vague reply that the RTI portal will be launched soon. We have been hearing this word “soon” for the last 5 years. I remember around 4 years ago the then Secretary IT J&K Govt Amit Sharma had given assurance that within weeks the RTI portal would be launched and he said this publicly on Srinagar Doordarshan during an interaction, but the promise wasn’t fulfilled at all and when I would contact him on his phone , he didn’t even respond back and chose to remain silent?

Seeking Info through Obsolete ways 

As per the Govt 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. The year 2024 will also come to an end in some months and citizens in J&K continue to seek information under Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI Act) through the archaic and obsolete manner by going to office and filing an RTI application. In many cases, the designated 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 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 being ruled by the centre for more than 5 years, why are not the same services being given to people here?

Conclusion

At a time when PM Modi talks much about the Digital India programme and a lot of work has been done in this regard in the last 5 to 6 years but with regard to seeking information on a digital platform, J&K still remains a distant dream for people especially those living in remote corners of UT. On this International Access to Information Day, commemorated on September 28^th across the globe, I again appeal to the J&K Govt to launch an online portal without any delay. I am sure the elected Govt that will be sworn in soon after elections will ensure that the online RTI portal is launched in J&K without any delay. That is our only hope now as IT Department has miserably failed to take up this task seriously.

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow.

He is Founder & Chairman Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement