No display of PIO's info, monitoring of complaints on outdated website

SHRC violating J&K RTI Act

SRINAGAR: Though it on daily basis issues recommendations to the government on rights violations of the citizens, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) conveniently forgets the fundamental right of the Constitution- Right to Information Act, which the commission itself has been violating.
In clear violation of Section 4 of Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act, the SHRC is yet to update its website to display information about the Act depriving people of the necessary information about the Public Information Officers (PIO), Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO), besides from assessing the information or filing complaints online under the Act.
Under Section 4 of said Act, it is mandatory for the all government and public authorities to update their official websites with the provision of RTI Act to make information public. The rule insists to maintain all records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the form which facilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that all records that are appropriate to be computerised are, within a reasonable time and subject to availability of resources, computerised and connected through a network all over the country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated.
However, in absence of such provisions on its website, people from far off places like Kupwara or any remote area have to travel miles to Srinagar to file complaints and check out their status at the SHRC office in Srinagar.
Peer Bilal Ahmad, a social activist from Kupwara, said that he had to travel 200 kilometers to and fro Srinagar to file a complaint at SHRC.
"On one hand, government makes claims of digital India and e-governance. But such claims are exposed at SHRC when such an important institution does not have a compatible website where people like me could file complaints online and asses the necessary information under the Act," Ahmad told The News Now.
"We have to spend a day to-and-fro Srinagar to file complaints which we can do from home in five minutes if the website provides the facility," he said.
An official in the SHRC said that they have written to the government time and again to sanction funds for website.
"We have written to the Chief Secretary for Rs 18 lakh to develop website for SHRC so that people could assess information and file complaints on its website," the official, who did not want to be identified, told The News Now.
Recently, the issue was raised by the SHRC officials at the Human Rights day on December 6 where the chief secretary B B Vyas assured the commission of allotting them money for website developing.
Besides, the SHRC does not have a designated Public Information Officer (PIO) as per the RTI Act and against the official claims, the sign boards are missing.
An inspection of SHRC office by this reporter to hear a first appeal of an RTI filed by JK RTI Movement found that the First Appellate authority does not have basic knowledge of JK RTI Act.
Instead of being a quasi-judicial authority to hear the first appeal, the Appellate authority, Secretary SHRC, asked the RTI activists to dictate him which orders he shall issue as the authority.
Irked by the absence of the RTI information on SHRC website, the RTI activists have filed a complaint before the Chief Information Commissioner of the state, who hearing is slated in this month.
Chairman, JK RTI Movement, Dr Shaikh Ghulam Rasool, told The News Now that the complaint was accepted by the CIC and the hearing will be held in the second week of this month.