JAMMU: Exposing the casual approach and lethargy of official machinery and bringing a ray of hope for the inhabitants of Sub division RS Pura, a border area in Jammu district, an RTI application has revealed that only 136 Permanent Resident Certificates were issued to the people of the area in a period of over 09 months. In a shocking expose’ that came through information received under RTI Act, it’s been revealed in the reply that people of RS Pura were denied of their constitutional right of having Permanent Resident Certificate most commonly called as ‘State Subject Certificate ’ for months together and their applications were gathering dust before the RTI plea.
In an official communication vide office letter no SDMR/RTI/2017-18/1308 dated 17/11/2018 signed by Sub Divisional Magistrate, RS Pura served to the RTI activist Raman Sharma in response to his application under Right to Information Act, it is being informed that a total 6514 PRC’s have been issued to the applicants in last two years. It is also informed in the RTI reply that 2165 PRCs were issued in last one year, out of which 2029 were issued only after the submission of RTI application and only 136 PRCs were issued by the SDM office in 09 months before the RTI.
In the reply, the tall claims of the government about providing transparent and accountable governance are also exposed because the SDM’s letter also states that there is no single window mechanism available in the Sub division and the files of the applicants are submitted directly to the concerned Tehisldaars. Blaming the shortage of staff and overload of work, the official reply also exonerated the itself for the delay in issuing the PRCs well within stipulated period of 30 days as prescribed under the rules framed by the government in the light of Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Gurantee Act 2011. Under the J & K PSGA 2011, there is a provision of penalty against the designated officers for delay and deficiency in any service besides compensation provision for the eligible person who is deprived his right to public service.
Expressing happiness over the success of his RTI application that has compelled the officers to expedite the process of issuing over 2000 ‘State Subjects’ within such a short span of less than two months, applicant Sharma urged people to file RTI applications to seek their right and to expose corruption, nepotism and lethargy of the official machinery.
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