New Delhi: The Central Information Commission has suggested that the government of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir register itself on the Central government’s RTI portal to allow the general public to file their applications online.
In a statement, the transparency panel said it has started the process of getting pending appeals and complaints from the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State Information Commission transferred to itself.
The transfer had become a necessity after the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh — last year. The Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act was replaced with the central Right to Information Act, 2005 thus bringing all the pending appeals and complaints under the Central Information Commission.
The Commission on Friday held an interaction with all the State Information Commissioners and Chief Information Commissioners through video conferencing, a statement issued by the panel said.
The basic objective of the interaction chaired by Chief Information Commissioner Bimal Julka was to exchange ideas, methodology and approach to streamline the functioning of the Commission through the use of ham technological tools especially during the COVID-19 situation.
“It was also brought out that consequent to the reorganization of Jammu & Kashmir Act, 2019 and transfer of pending complaint & second appeal cases under RTI Act to Central Information Commission, New Delhi, the Commission had initiated the process to get the cases transferred,” it said.
The Commission has started hearing cases from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh with effect from May 15, 2020, it said.
“It was also suggested to UT Jammu and Kashmir to register itself with the RTI portal of DoPT so as to facilitate the general public to file online RTI applications and first appeal. Efforts are also being made to facilitate training and familiarisation exercise of the Central Public Information Offices and First Appellate Authorities of J & K and Ladakh Administrations through webinars etc,” it said.
