RTI activists face IPO hurdle in Jammu

RTI activists face IPO hurdle
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 26
Even as the Centre has been making all efforts to spread awareness among the people about benefits of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, people here are finding it difficult to file applications under the Act.

One has to deposit a fee with an RTI application to get the required information from the department concerned. But in Jammu, the head post office at Gandhi Nagar has no stock of Indian Postal Orders (IPOs) of Rs 10, which is the easiest method of seeking information from any Central government office.

Officials at the post office are not even aware about the RTI Act and how an application is filed. The shortage of postal orders came to light on Thursday when this correspondent went to the post office to file an application. An official at a counter said they had not received the supply of Rs 10 IPOs for a long time.

“The IPOs of Rs 10 have been out of stock for a long time. Despite several requests, we have not yet got the supply,” said the official, and feigned ignorance that the IPOs were mostly used as fee for filing an RTI application.

However, the Chief Postmaster of the state, John Samuel, denied any shortage of IPOs.

“We are having adequate stock of IPOs of all denominations and there is no shortage,” he said. But he failed to reply to a question about the lack of awareness among the staff about the RTI Act.

On the other hand, an RTI activist, Balwinder Singh, alleged that, “The public is facing hardship in filing RTI applications, as the IPOs of Rs 10 are not available in the post offices and those seeking information have to go to banks for getting drafts to seek information under the RTI Act”.

He added that the IPOs,which were the best and the cheapest method to seek information under the RTI Act, were not available and the department should immediately take action in this regard.

Courtesy: the Tribune