Srinagar: The maiden RTI portal launched by the Jammu & Kashmir government has made access to information a click away, removing the cumbersome process of manual applications with activists optimistic about ushering accountability and transparency in governance.
The online RTI portal launched by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on January 10 will allow access to information for 61 government departments with 272 nodal officers. It has removed the need for the cumbersome and traditional process involving physical visits to offices.
This will also eliminate the Indian postal orders (IPOs), demand drafts and physical applications. Instead, it allows a citizen to seek information from public authorities to submit the request online generating a unique code through SMS and email for each request. Besides, an official said it will eliminate delays and non-reception of requests with access to the departments at the tap of a click.
This made Jammu and Kashmir join among the 24 states and union territories in the country to have an online facility for requesting information. For activists and concerned citizens, the initiative has triggered hope and optimism of transparency and accountability in governance without any hassle.
Sayed Adil Rashid hailing from Ganderbal has been a key activist with over a dozen requests seeking information from authorities from both the Union Territory as well as Centre about a lack of the RTI Portal in the last few years. Until 2019, Jammu and Kashmir had its own RTI Act 2009 but the abrogation of Article 370 applied nearly 900 central laws including the RTI Act 2005.
But J&K alongside Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar, Daman and Diu and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep lacked an online portal, prompting Supreme Court intervention.
This came despite the J&K Government offering 1000 online services in 2023 except for RTI. This prompted Rashid to file dozens of RTI applications and letters to public authorities including the Prime Minister in June 2024 to press for the full implementation of the law here.
“Der ayad durst ayad (better late than never),” said Adil saying the availability of online service will help bridge the gap between the public and the government.
Citing drawbacks in the manual process, he said it was challenging for people particularly those living in remote areas to visit the office in the face of the expenses it would incur.
"This cumbersome process would prompt many to avoid filing requests," he said. "But now, the process has been simplified with a deadline set for each request. The nodal officer will know about the pending applications. They will know about the disposal, pending or overdue requests. It can speedily dispose of the application and know the status."
But Rashid pointed out the lack of public authorities including universities like the University of Kashmir, Jammu University and J&K Bank Limited not falling in the RTI domain.
Badrul Duja, advocate and RTI activist is excited about the new RTI portal saying it will "empower people to get not only information but also inspect the sites or documents". He listed the charges including Indian Postal Order, envelope, printing charges, transport and time will be saved now by shifting to online service.
But Duja pointed out that some features like uploading photos with each application mandatory is not citizen-friendly. “You have to convert the format of the photo with the size limit," he added.
