All provisions of RTI Act to be enforced in J&K, says Jitendra Singh

A notification in this regard will be issued soon and the same pattern will be followed as in other UTs, said Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh

All provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act will be enforced in newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday.

He said applications filed under the RTI Act related to offices in Jammu and Kashmir under the Union Territory Administration will soon come under the jurisdiction of the Central Information Commission (CIC).

"A notification in this regard will be issued soon and the same pattern will be followed as in other UTs," the minister said after a meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Refuting reports in a section of the media on the ambiguity regarding the applicability of the RTI Act in J-K, Singh said all provisions of the RTI Act will be enforced in the newly carved out UT.

"At the lower level--public information officers (PIOs) and the First Appellate Authority-- the procedure for disposing of RTI applications will remain the same. The CIC comes into picture when the applicant makes second appeal which can henceforth be filed with the CIC," Singh was quoted as having said in a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.