For the last 21 years I have been a campaigner for the Right to Information (RTI). I still remember when I accessed information using an archaic J&K RTI Act 2004 and then we campaigned for a progressive RTI regime in J&K. Omar Abdullah was a great proponent of this law and that is the reason National Conference had made it part of their 2008 election manifesto. Late Mufti Mohammad Syed who was out of power after the 2008 elections was also a great admirer of the RTI Act and organised a workshop for all his MLAs and MLCs at the PDP Office in October 2009. Not only did he participate himself, his senior colleagues like Abdul Aziz Zargar and Molvi Iftikar Ansari also participated in the programme. 

UT without a SIC We had a State Information Commission (SIC), but everything changed after the abrogation of Article 370. The J&K RTI Act 2009 enacted by Omar Abdullah Govt in March 2009 was also repealed like hundreds of many state laws. The central law (RTI Act 2005) was extended to J&K, but without a state information commission-SIC . SICs are not set up in Union Territories (UTs), and appeals and complaints from all UTs are listed with the Central Information Commission (CIC). This is the biggest problem with all UTs and especially J&K. In the past, our appeals and complaints would be decided by erstwhile J&K State Information Commission-JKSIC in few months but from 2019 onwards it takes years? When you have such a scenario around you, activists and public-spirited citizens get demoralised. This has happened with many in the last 5 to 6 years but one person whom I saw committed to the cause of RTI and accessing information using this law is Dr M M Shuja. Despite all odds and........

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