Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 2: Various State Government departments are paying no-heed to the directions being issued by the General Administration Department after regular intervals about voluntary disclosure of information under Right to Information Act.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that ever since the enactment of Right to Information Act, the State Information Commission is repeatedly taking up the issue of non-adherence to the voluntary disclosure of the information in terms of Section 4 (1) (b) of the Act by various State Government departments with the General Administration Department.
Early last year, the State Information Commission asked the Chief Secretary to ensure immediate compliance by all the departments failing which it (the Commission) will recommend disciplinary action against such public authorities. The Commission had categorically told the Chief Secretary that overall compliance with the provisions of Section 4 (1) (b) of the Act was far from satisfactory.
Thereafter, the issue of non-compliance of Section 4 (1) (b) of the Act was discussed in the meetings of Committee of Secretaries chaired by the Chief Secretary and accordingly the concerned Administrative Secretaries were directed to ensure compliance to the voluntary disclosure of information under Right to Information Act.
However, the level of compliance remained un-satisfactory, which is evident from the fact that vide Circular No.7 dated February 10, 2015, the General Administration Department again expressed serious concern over most of the departments still not hosting the requisite information on their official websites.
The non-compliance is notwithstanding the fact that Section 4 is soul and spirit of the Act mandating all the public authorities to prepare and host on website the information as per 17 manuals set out under Clause (b) of Sub-Section (1) of Section 4. This was required to be done within 120 days of the commencement of the Act, which otherwise is in operation in the State for several years now.
Now, the General Administration Department has once again issued a circular asking all the Financial Commissioners, Administrative Secretaries, Heads of the Departments and Deputy Commissioners to implement the instructions issued vide Circular No.7-GAD of 2015 and 19-GAD of 2015 by hosting the requisite information on their official websites and regularly updating the same.
However, sources said that General Administration Depar-tment should also start the process of initiating action for non-compliance of RTI Act otherwise there is no justification in issuing repeated circulars only for being ignored by the departments.
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