Since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomy, government offices — except the Lieutenant Governor’s office — have hardly cared to respond to information seekers. Most offices today are reluctant to provide information under RTI.

Abdul Ahad Ganai from Palpora in central Kashmir’s Budgam had sought information from the department of Public Health Engineering, now called Jal Shakti. It has been almost eight months and Mr. Ganai still has not been provided the information he sought. 

Mr. Ganai has even filed an appeal before the Chief Engineer’s office, which also was not responded to; the Block Development Officer (BDO) in Khag, Budgam has also not responded to the RTI applications.

Since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomy, government offices — except the Lieutenant Governor’s office — have hardly cared to respond to information seekers. Most offices today are reluctant to provide information under RTI.

On 1 September 2020, Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, an activist, filed a Right to Information (RTI) application in the Rural Development Department (RDD) in the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar and the office of Deputy Commissioner (DC) Budgam. 

Simultaneously, Mr. Lone filed an application in the Lieutenant Governor’s office on 4 September 2020 and, on the same day, the Public Information Officer (PIO) in the Raj Bhavan forwarded it to the concerned public authority. Mr. Lone sought information on the status of rural sanitation, health, and allied issues. https://thekashmirwalla.com/2020/10/in-kashmir-right-to-information-abrogated/