Cognizance taken of strictures passed by CIC
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 16: Taking cognizance of the orders passed by the Central Information Commission (CIC) against several officers of different departments for creating obstructions in dissemination of information under Right to Information Act, 2005, the Government of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has asked all the Administrative Secretaries, Heads of the Departments and Managing Directors to conduct fortnightly reviews to ascertain status of disposal of applications received under the transparency law and furnish compliance report to the General Administration Department.
During the past several months, EXCELSIOR is exclusively highlighting the dilly-dallying approach of the officers in dissemination of information under the RTI Act, non-compliance of the directions passed by the First Appellate Authorities and strictures passed against the officers by the Central Information Commission while dealing with Second Appeals.
The Central Information Commission, after regular intervals, is also issuing show-cause notices to the officers seeking explanation for delay in disposal of applications under RTI Act and in some cases even penalty has also been imposed on erring officers.
Now, the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has taken cognizance of the orders passed by the Central Information Commission and accordingly detailed instructions have been issued to all the departments so as to ensure implementation of Right to Information Act, 2005 in letter and spirit.
“The objective of the Right to Information Act, 2005 is to empower citizens by way of promoting transparency and accountability in the working of the Government and eradicating corruption to make democracy work for the people in real sense”, the General Administration Department has mentioned in the circular issued today, adding “an informed citizen is well equipped to keep necessary vigil on the instruments of governance and make the Government more accountable towards the citizens”.
In the circular, it has further been mentioned that all Government agencies come under the purview of the Act and it contains mechanisms devised at multiple levels to ensure that the Act is followed in letter and spirit. “Post-Reorganization the Right to Information Act, 2005 was made applicable to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with a view to empower the citizen as a responsible and active participant in the workings of the Government”, the GAD said.
Although significant strides have been made by various departments, offices and other agencies of the Government in realizing the vision of the Right to Information Act, more steps need to be taken to usher in accountability in governance and fuse authority with accountability at all levels, the GAD said, adding “the Act casts important obligations on the public authorities so as to facilitate the citizens of the country to access the information held under their control”.
Accordingly, the GAD has enjoined upon all public offices to ensure strict adherence to the provisions of the Act and facilitate speedy dissemination of information to the information seeker. “All public offices shall sensitize their Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) on the important provisions of the RTI regime viz voluntary disclosure of information, adherence to the prescribed timelines for disposal of RTI applications, prompt transfer of applications and appropriate disposal of appeals by the Appellate Authorities”, the Government has directed.
Further, all the Administrative Secretaries, Heads of the Departments and Managing Directors have been directed to conduct fortnightly reviews to ascertain the status of disposal of RTI applications received in their offices and furnish the compliance report in this regard to the General Administration Department.
According to the legal experts, adequate attention is also required to be paid towards transparency audit of the disclosures under the Right to Information Act which has twin objectives— to make thorough assessment of voluntary disclosures and to indicate the areas for increasing transparency in the Public Authorities.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Government of India had directed all the Public Authorities vide its order dated April 15, 2013, to ensure regular audit of mandatory disclosures by a third party. “Each Public Authority should have its proactive disclosure package audited by third-party every year. The audit should cover compliance with the proactive disclosure guidelines as well as adequacy of the items included in the package. The audit should examine whether there are any other types of information which could be proactively disclosed”, read the DoPT order.
The order further read: “Such audit should be done annually and should be communicated to the Central Information Commission annually through publication on their own websites. All Public Authorities should proactively disclose the names of the third-party auditors on their websites”.
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