Proactive disclosure of information under the J&amp;K RTI Act remains poor

Proactive disclosure of information under the J&K RTI Act remains poor

By Venkatesh Nayak*
The J&K Right to Information Act (J&K RTI Act) entered its 9th year of implementation on March 20, 2017. A Rapid Study of the official websites of 230 public authorities under the J&K Government conducted by J&K RTI Movement and CHRI reveals that compliance with the requirement of proactive disclosure of information under Section 4(1)(b) of the J&K RTI Act remains poor. Key findings from this Rapid Study are given below. J&K RTI Movement and CHRI are discussing these findings in order to identify practical recommendations for improving compliance with Section 4(1)(b) of the J&K RTI Act, today (20 March, 2017) at the Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development (IMPA), Srinagar.

What is proactive information disclosure under Section 4 of the J&K RTI Act?

Section 4(1)(b) of the J&K RTI Act makes it compulsory for all public authorities to place a wealth of information in the public domain. This includes detailed information about their organization and functions, powers and duties of their officials, rules, regulations, norms and manuals that must guide their work, details of decision-making processes, budgets and expenditure, subsidiary programmes implemented, authorisations and permits issued and a list of all records held in paper or electronic form.
Additionally, every public authority is required to publicise relevant facts about all important policy matters or decisions it takes, from time to time. Every person who is affected by any decision of a public authority has the right to be informed of the reasons behind such decisions. Section 4(2) of the J&K RTI Act explains that the purpose of proactively disclosing all this information is to reduce people’s need to seek information by filing formal RTI applications. A deeper examination of the scheme of the J&K RTI Act indicates that proactive disclosure of information is prioritized over reactive disclosure i.e., supplying information against formal RTI applications.

Key findings from the Rapid Study conducted by J&KRTI Movement and CHRI

Key findings from a rapid study of the official websites of the two Divisional Commissioners, the administration of 22 districts and 206 departments, autonomous bodies and other public authorities are as follows:

The DivComs and all districts have official websites. 59% of the districts have not uploaded Section 4(1)(b) information to a reasonable degree of compliance on their official websites. They are either incomplete or not published at all.
3/4ths of the district websites do not display any information about their annual budgets. Only the district administration of Bandipora and Budgam have displayed the latest budget-related information for 2016-17.
The Kargil district website is the best of all district websites included in this Rapid Study. Detailed information about the working of the Deputy Commissioner’s office and other departments in the district has been published in compliance with the J&K RTI Act. Udhampur seems to be the only district administration to display the physical verification reports of the developmental projects undertaken under various developmental programmes up to 2016.
Some districts have nevertheless taken innovative steps to display other categories of information proactively. Doda district website displays property statements of the officials of the DC’s office, and the Tahsildars and the total number of various types of ration cards issued by the administration, Tahsil-wise. Websites of Samba, Rajouri and Pulwama display the number of complaints received under the J&K Public Services Grievances Act, 2011. However this information is also not regularly updated.
More than 15% of the remaining 209 public authorities (other than DivComs and District Administration) in J&K covered by the study do not have websites. As many as 4 out of every 10 of the 177 public authorities with official websites do not display any information required to be proactively disclosed under Section 4(1)(b) of the J&K RTI Act. Compliance is only 57.62%.
2% (32) of the public authorities have not displayed any details regarding the PIOs and FAAs designated by them for dealing with RTI applications and first appeals.
More than 3/4ths (138) of the public authorities with websites have not displayed budget-related information. Only two public authorities have displayed budget related information for the latest year i.e., 2017-18 (namely, Finance Dept. and the Directorate of Audit and Inspections). Six of the remaining public authorities have displayed budget related information for the year 2016-17 (namely, the Directorates of Horticulture and Animal Husbandry, the J&K Legislative Assembly, the J&K Legislative Council, IMPA and Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology).
Under the section relating to budget and expenditure, the website of the Chief Minister’s Secretariatstates as follows: “Chief Minister’s Secretariat does not have budget allocation for any programme nor it has any agency under its direct control.”
However, the budget document uploaded on the website of the Finance Department displays the following sums of money allocated to the Council of Ministers and the CM’s Secretariat in 2017-18: (1) Council of Ministers (Voted): Rs. 752.80 lakhs; (2) CM’s Secretariat- GAD: Salary, travel expenses, Medical reimbursement grant- Rs. 54.80 lakhs; and (3) CM’ Secretariat- GAD: Secret Services expenses: Rs. 1,500 lakhs.The budget-related section of the RTI Handbook (Manual) of the Governor’s office (Raj Bhawan) has not been updated after 2014-15.

The website of the J&K General Administration Department– the nodal department for implementing the J&K RTI Act, has not been updated for budget-related information after 2016.
This Rapid Study is an outcome of the Internship Programme that CHRI hosted at its New Delhi office for Adv. (Ms.) Syed Iram Quadri and Adv. Bilal Ahmed Bhat, members, J&K RTI Movement (J&K RTI Movement) and the School for Rural Development and Environment (SRDE), from 01-28 February, 2017. CHRI and J&K RTI Movement have compiled this preliminary report.
—
*Programme Coordinator, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi

Comments

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Gujarat agate worker, who fought against bondage, died of silicosis, won compensation

Raju Parmar By Jagdish Patel* This is about an agate worker of Khambhat in Central Gujarat. Born in a Vankar family, Raju Parmar first visited our weekly OPD clinic in Shakarpur on March 4, 2009. Aged 45 then, he was assigned OPD No 199/03/2009. He was referred to the Cardiac Care Centre, Khambhat, to get chest X-ray free of charge. Accordingly, he got it done and submitted his report. At that time he was working in an agate crushing unit of one Kishan Bhil.

Budget for 2018-19: Ahmedabad authorities "regularly" under-spend allocation

By Mahender Jethmalani* The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC's) General Body (Municipal Board) recently passed the AMC’s annual budget estimates of Rs 6,990 crore for 2018-19. AMC’s revenue expenditure for the next financial year is Rs 3,500 crore and development budget (capital budget) is Rs 3,490 crore.

Licy Bharucha’s pilgrimage into the lives of India’s freedom fighters

By Moin Qazi* Book Review: “Oral History of Indian Freedom Movement”, by Dr Licy Bharucha; Pp240; Rs 300; Published by National Museum of Indian Freedom Movement The Congress has won political freedom, but it has yet to win economic freedom, social and moral freedom. These freedoms are harder than the political, if only because they are constructive, less exciting and not spectacular. — Mahatma Gandhi The opening quote of the book by Mahatma Gandhi sums up the true objective of India’s freedom struggle. It also in essence speaks for the multitudes of brave and courageous individuals who aspired to get themselves jailed for the cause of the country’s freedom. A jail term was a strong testimony and credential of patriotism for them. The book has been written by Dr Licy Bharucha, an academically trained political scientist and a scholar of peace studies and Gandhian studies, who was closely associated throughout her life with those who made the struggle for India’s independence the primar...

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit.

Covid response? How, gripped by fear and groupthink, scientists 'failed' children

By Bhaskaran Raman* “Today’s children are tomorrow’s future”, “Nurture children’s dreams”, “A child’s smile is sunlight”. These are some cliches, rendered rather uninspiring through repetition and obviousness. However, for nearly 2½ years, society forgot these cliches, children suffered as science failed and groupthink prevailed. Worse, all of this has been swept under the rug.

Search This Blog