Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 4: The prominent Citizens and RTI activists of the State have vehemently objected to the recent amendments made in the rules of Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act vide SRO No. 279.
This is yet another attempt of the State Government in curtailing the people’s rights and shows its callous and apathetic attitude and adamant nature in making RTI regime and RTI Institution tooth-less after successfully delving in making other vital accountability and transparency Institutions defunct, said Balwinder Singh convener, Sangarsh RTI Movement while talking to reporters here today along with other activists.
He said the RTI activists strongly oppose such a move and term it a by-product of the nexus of bureaucracy and political establishment governing the State. “We condemns the Government for tampering with the rules of J&K RTI Act as for last three years the original rules had delivered and yielded positive results,” he added.
He lambasted the Government for its double-speak on corruption. The weakening of the Act is a deliberate attempt of the Government to facilitate the corrupt, he added.
Mr Singh said all the RTI activists and the civil society are averse to such hasty decision of the Government which has taken the decision without any consultation with the citizens and stakeholders.
“We ask the civil society and the opposition parties to join hand in defeating the nefarious designs of the Government and request the legislatures to step in and defeat Government’s move of weakening the Act by amending the RTI rules on the floor of the house.
He said by amending the rules the powers of the commission have been taken away with respect to utilize the services of any officer or investigation agency of the Government for the purposes of conducting an investigation pertaining to an inquiry.
Mr Singh said moreover no RTI application could now be filed on Stamp Paper, therefore ensuring the harassment of the information seeker by forcing him to struggle for getting demand drafts /IPOs.
The other RTI activists who were present in the press conference included Vilakshan Singh RTI activist , Raman Sharma, Co-founder of Sangarsh RTI Movement, Shiekh Shakeel Ahmed Advocate, Dewaker Sharma Advocate, Deepika Singh Rajawat Lawyer Activist, Narinder Singh Ex-Mayor, Darvinder Singh member Sangarsh, Deepak Sharma RTI activist and others.
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