State Information Commission (SIC) has stated that Rural Development Department is totally hostile to the Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act and does not want transparency and accountability in its functioning. This has resulted in a major embarrassment for the Government. It has directed the top hierarchy of the department to take steps on war footing so as to ensure openness at all the levels of the department. In the absence of it, the people can draw an inference that officers, perhaps, have many a thing to hide.
In a number of appeals and cases, it has been observed by the Commission that the Block Development officers (BDOs) do not respond to First Appellant Authorities (FAAs) or the Director RDD when first appeals are filed by the RTI applicants. This attitude of the Public Information Officers of RDD reflects the discomfiture of these officers in sharing the information with the information seekers.
The SIC has further clarified that it did not reflect well on the part of the officers and it also projected a failure on their part to deliver the statutory duties and responsibilities under the RTI Act.
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