To protect influential culprits, district administration violates the RTI act; No transparency in the administrative setup

To protect influential culprits, district administration violates the RTI act; No transparency in the administrative setup

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH: To promote transparency in the government setup by allowing the common man to seek any information, the RTI Act has played a big role.

But as far as the workings of the Poonch administration are concerned, top officers love to violate the said act at will, thereby denying important information to the public. An RTI was sent by an applicant on April 23, 2024, through speed mail addressed to the district administration, but after a lapse of more than two months, the administration has failed to reply, and this shows that the Poonch has been witnessing the horrible state of administrative affairs. In the said RTI, information about illegal stone crushers, no action on the Red Zone, the status of Chandak-Mandi Road, and some illegal acts of PRIs was sought, but the administration preferred to violate the RTI Act by denying information to the RTI applicant. It is pertinent to mention here that the issue of illegal construction in the “Red Zone” and the capturing of irrigation canals and water bodies remained the most burning top in the media, but rather than taking action against influential culprits, the administration was seen protecting them through illegal means. Moreover, a number of illegal stone crushers were allowed to flourish by the administration due to hand-in-glove acts, and when a detailed report was sought in the RTI to know why the administration failed to take action against illegal stone crushers, the administration remained tight-lipped. Moreover, no information was given on the status of the Chandak-Mandi road. There are also reports that a sitting PRI was involved in an open fraud by misusing the official chair, but when a report was sought about any PRI involved in breach of constitutional trust by holding office of profit directly or indirectly, the administration again remained tight-lipped. These are clear indications that the district administration has openly violated the RTI Act, and it shows that there is no transparency in the administrative setup. An impression has been generated in the minds of the people of Poonch that the administration never took action against any type of illegal act, but only some poor people were targeted in the name of anti-encroachment drives. A high-level inquiry is needed against the district administration from the J&K UT government over the open violation of the RTI Act, which empowers the common man to get any information of public interest.