Finally, the RTI has gone online in Jammu & Kashmir. As campaigners for the Right to Information Act (RTI), it has been our long-pending demand. My colleagues and I have been advocating for this for many years. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently launched the online RTI portal, which aims to enhance transparency and accountability in governance while simplifying access to information. The portal was formally launched on January 10, 2025, at the Civil Secretariat, Jammu. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, several Cabinet Ministers, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, and other senior officials.

Omar Abdullah congratulated the officers involved in developing the portal, emphasizing its transformative potential in simplifying the RTI application process for citizens.

“This initiative will provide easy access to government information under the RTI Act, empowering citizens with a faster, more transparent, and cost-efficient mechanism,” the Chief Minister said.

Flaws in the Portal

As an RTI campaigner, I, along with my colleagues, have noticed that the RTI portal is not user-friendly and lacks many features that could make it more effective. The J&K RTI portal is not modeled on the national RTI portal, which is used to access information from central government offices.

Within days of its launch, the portal developed a technical snag and stopped working. Though the........

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