RTI missing from J

Jammu, Jan 17 (UNI) At a time when the country is charged up with the debate over Right to Information Act, there is no such proposal with the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in the present budget session, the government and Assembly sources said here today.

The Right to Information (RTI) Act was hailed as a major step towards democratisation of the country as informed citizens and transparency of information are vital to the functioning of a democratic government and also to contain corruption.

The state assembly has its own RTI Act, which was notified on June 30, 2005. But its effectiveness was curtailed as compared to the Central Law. In Jammu and Kashmir, the government, yeilding to popular pressure, did not move the amendment bill in the last session of the Assembly.

Consequently, not a single case in the state was reported where any person got redressal under the RTI act.

''There is no bill regarding the Right to Information.'' sources close to the state Assembly Speaker said.

Talking to UNI, Kashmir expert and Padma Vibhushan Balraj Puri said last year he was approached by Chief Informatiom Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah for submitting a detailed paper on the limitations in the state Right to Information Act.

Mr Puri said, ''In J&K, the Central laws are not automatically applicable under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The main difference between the state law and the central act is that unlike the Central law, the state law does not provide for the institution of the Information Commission appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha and a Union cabinet minister.

In the rest of the country, the state commissioners have similarly been assured of its autonomous character but in J&K there is no such provision, he added.

The J&K People's Union for Civil Liberties has already submitted a memorandum, signed by 200 prominent citizens, to the Chief Minister for the appointment of such a commission.

UNI