*Filing of complaints/appeals dips considerably since June
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Nov 17: Finally, the Jammu and Kashmir State Information Commission has become completely defunct with the lone Information Commissioner Nazir Ahmed completing his term today after single-handedly looking after the functioning of transparency watchdog for nine months. However, there are no immediate signs of this vital Commission getting new lease of life as State Government has yet not come out of deep slumber.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that Nazir Ahmed, who along with first ever Chief Information Commissioner of J&K, G R Sufi and another Information Commissioner Dr S K Sharma, played crucial role in making various organs of the State Government accountable for disclosure of information under Right to Information Act, completed his term today.
Today was his last working day as per the provisions of J&K Right to Information Act and with this the State Information Commission has completely become defunct only due to the indifferent attitude of the State Government, which instead of initiating steps in advance for filling up of the vacant posts in this vital Commission, preferred to shut eyes.
The State Government was very well aware of the fact that following the completion of term of Nazir Ahmed nobody would be there to ensure implementation of landmark legislation but unfortunately it allowed the situation to reach at a stage where Commission has virtually become non-operational, sources regretted.
The State Information Commission was established under the provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act in the month of February 2011 and despite being divested of several powers due to amendments in the RTI Act the first ever Chief Information Commissioner along with two Information Commissioners made all out efforts to establish transparency regime in the State by making various organs of the Government accountable for disclosure of information.
It is pertinent to mention here that Dr S K Sharma completed his term as Information Commissioner on October 31, 2015 and Chief Information Commissioner G R Sufi on February 29 this year. Before completion of his term, the first ever CIC of the State had written to the Government through General Administration Department (GAD) a number of times stressing the need of initiating steps in advance for appointment of new CIC and Information Commissioners. But, his communications were never taken seriously as a result of which the SIC has finally become an entity only on papers.
Sources said that Nazir Ahmed single handedly disposed of large number of complaints/appeals under Right to Information Act with the hope that the Government will wake up to the necessity of making selection of CIC and Information Commissioner well before his completion of term but this didn’t happen and at last the situation has reached at a stage where there is nobody to implement the RTI Act.
Expressing inability to specify the time-frame for making selection of new Chief Information Commissioner and two Information Commissioners, sources said, “the intensity of the non-seriousness of the Government can be gauged from the fact that the General Administration Department has yet not prepared a panel of probables for these posts”.
“We have not received any instruction from the higher-ups for framing of panel”, an officer of the General Administration Department said on the condition of anonymity.
“This clearly establishes that Government’s tall claims about ensuring transparency in its functioning were only aimed at befooling the common masses otherwise it would not have allowed the situation to reach at such a stage”, sources remarked.
They disclosed that due to non-serious approach of the Government towards filling the posts of CIC and Information Commissioners, the number of complaints/appeals being filed before the Commission has seen drastic reduction during the past some months.
As per the data of State Information Commission, in the month of June this year the Commission had received 36 complaints/appeals but this figure deceased to 21 in the month of July and 16 in the month of August and in the month of September the Commission had received 26 complaints/appeals.
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