J&K RTI Foundation

PSC has to respect RTI ! Dailyexcelsior  ( 28/11/2017 ) Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat Jammu & Kashmir Public Service Commission (PSC) continues to violate Right to Information Act (RTI) in-spite of the fact that State Information Commission (SIC) has been directing it to follow the law in letter and spirit. I can’t understand the reason why PSC gives more weightage to its so called precedence and Standing Orders which contradict with the basic essence of Right to Information Act ? I am in receipt of a fresh reply from the Public Information Officer (PIO) of J&K PSC. The officer has once again denied to provide me the Xerox copies of answer sheets (OMR sheets) and answer key of Combined Competitive Exams (preliminary examination). Earlier State Information Commission (SIC) in its several orders had directed the PSC to provide similar kind of information and during the hearing , the PIO as well as First Appellate Authority (FAA) ie Secretary and Controller examinations did ...

Jammu Kashmir RTI applicants a harried lot as officials pass the buck Get information in ‘bits and pieces’ from public officers Tribune News Service Arteev Sharma Jammu, November 14 Call it lack of sufficient training or well-planned divisionary tactics on the part of public information officers (PIOs) in government departments, applicants under the J&K Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2009, are a harried lot in the state as they are forced to get information in “bits and pieces”. This is happening because the PIOs generally transfer the RTI applications to different departments or various wings of the same department by “deliberately” invoking the Section 6 (3) to shun their responsibilities and deprive the applicants of their rights. Experts believe that it is not necessary for the PIOs to invoke Section 6 (3) every time and transfer the application to other public authority. The Section 6 (3) mandates a public authority to transfer the RTI application or su...

Chairman J&K RTI Foundation, Er. Irfan Banka, filed three applications in the commission since July this year and is disappointed over the lackadaisical approach of the Commission towards RTI. Srinagar— Jammu and Kashmir State Information Commission, which is the RTI Head for the state and decides the second appeals and Complaints under J&K RTI Act 2009 is itself caught on back foot. Chairman J&K RTI Foundation, Er. Irfan Banka, filed three applications in the commission since July this year and is disappointed over the lackadaisical approach of the Commission towards RTI. An application asking for information under RTI vide No. JKRTIF/RA/2017/110 Dated: 31/07/2017 was filed in J&K SIC by Er. Irfan Banka on 01-08-2017 through India Post which has not been replied till now. According to the Section 7(2) of the J&K RTI Act 2009, if the PIO fails to give you a decision notice, then this is regarded as a “deemed refusal”. “In case of many other Pub...