J&K may replace its archaic RTI Act

NEW DELHI: The recently-installed Jammu and Kashmir government will drop its old Right to Information (RTI) Act in favour of a new legislation in tune with the Central Act. The present RTI Act is not applicable to J&K which has an old legislation. Chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said, "The existing Act is very weak. If we consider J&K an integral part of India, it is their right to get a strong RTI Act.'' Habibullah said that he was in constant touch with J&K CM Omar Abdullah on the issue and is expected to visit the state next week. "I will be visiting the state to examine the draft legislation and give my suggestions,'' he said. The move comes after years of struggle by activists on the archaic J&K legislation that was not considered to be citizen-friendly. Unlike the Central Act, the J&K RTI Act has several loopholes rendering it ineffective. According to activists, the J&K RTI Act does not have provision for a time limit for `refusal of information' and the powers of penalty are much less. The maximum penalty is Rs 5,000 while the amount in the Central Act is Rs 25,000. Another loophole pointed out by RTI activists is that under the existing version of the J&K RTI Act, applicants may have to give reasons for seeking information, unlike the Central Act, and there is no provision for disclosure in case the applicant can prove overriding public interest. The public authorities are required under the existing version of the law to disclose only six categories of information proactively as against 16 categories in the Central RTI Act. There is no requirement to proactively disclose financial information such as budgets, allocations, disbursement reports and subsidy schemes

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