Srinagar: Government on Friday said that its departments furnish information to the RTI applicants in the stipulated time period and there was no pendency as on date.
Replying to a question of Sajad Ahmad Kichloo, the Minister for Public Works Naeem Akhtar informed that 83 government departments have posted information under Section 4(1)(b) on their websites as per the Annual Report of 2013-14 published by the J&K State Information Commission. The final figures would be available only after the SIC finally compiles the data for the year 2017-18, he added.
He said that the SIC was an autonomous body and has judicial powers to penalize the officers if they don’t provide the information to the activists within the prescribed time.
He said that the government would advise the Public Authorities to take measures for bringing transparency in their functioning. Non state subjects can also avail information under the RTI Act in the state, he added.
Legislators Girdhari Lal Raina and Ghulam Nabi Monga also raised supplementary questions to the main question.