Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Oct 12: Raising the issue of dilution of J&K RTI rules at NCPRI meet held here, RTI activists from Jammu and Kashmir State demanded the intervention of Indian Civil Society to pursue the J&K Government not to weaken the State transparency laws and institutions.
Speaking at 2-day National level RTI convention organised by National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) headed by Aruna Roy, J&K activists including Sardar Balvinder Singh, Dr Sheikh Ghulam Rasool and Raman Sharma, informed the participants that State Government has diluted the RTI rules of J&K and issued new rules vide order No 279 dated August 30, 2012, where the essential sections have been watered down.
They also shared their personal experiences regarding use of RTI law in the State.
In the presence of Central Information Commissioner (CIC), Aruna Roy, former CIC, Wajahat Habibullah, former Information Commissioner, Shailesh Gandhi, Venkatesh Naik, Nikhil Day and others, J&K activists admitted that 68000 terror incidents that have happened in two decades might not have caused so much damage to the State as the corruption and stone walling by corrupt officers have done.
They maintained that the people of J&K besides violence incidents are also victims of the corruption in the State, and the Indian Civil Society must be aware of these facts.
The NCPRI group assured full support to J&K activists and promised to take up the issue at appropriate Forum.
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