CM launches J&K RTI online portal
Move aimed to simplify citizen access to information
Jammu: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Friday launched the Jammu & Kashmir Right to Information (RTI) Online Portal at the Civil Secretariat, marking a significant step towards enhancing transparency and accountability in governance.
The launch event was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary, Cabinet Ministers SakeenaItoo, Javed Ahmad Rana, and Javed Ahmad Dar. Chief Secretary AtalDulloo, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Dheeraj Gupta, administrative secretaries and senior officers were also present.
In his address, Chief Minister 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,” he stated.
The Chief Minister also urged the concerned authorities to ensure widespread publicity of the initiative so that citizens across Jammu & Kashmir become aware of its benefits.
Developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) Jammu and Kashmir, the portal introduces a shift from manual to online RTI applications. This transition enables citizens to submit RTI requests, track their status, and receive responses electronically, eliminating the need for physical visits to government offices.
Earlier, Secretary General Administration Department (GAD), M. Raju, delivered a presentation on the portal’s features, highlighting its accessibility, convenience, speed of processing, cost efficiency and role in promoting accountability.
He outlined the portal’s key functionalities, including its user-friendly interface, streamlined RTI workflow, and robust documentation features.
A unique feature of the portal is the issuance of a registration number to applicants via SMS and email for future reference, enabling easy tracking of RTI applications.
The portal integrates 61 government departments, 272 nodal officers/public authorities, 720 First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and 3,419 Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) and Public Information Officers (PIOs), ensuring comprehensive coverage and making the citizens informed about the activities of the Government.
Can discard old ideas, embrace new if they fit into ideology of ‘nation first’: PM Modi
Press Trust of India
New Delhi: Prime Minister NarendraModi has said he is willing to discard old ideas and embrace new ones as long as they fit into his essential ideology of “nation first”.
Appearing for the first time in a podcast, which was hosted by Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath and released on Friday, Modi said he sees his success in how he prepares a team who can deftly handle things, as he asserted that there are many young politicians with potential. He declined to name any, saying it will be injustice to many others.
When Kamath asked him if he has planned for the time beyond him, training those he has faith in, not for today but after 20-30 years, Modi said, “I can see people with a lot of potential. When I was in Gujarat, I would say that I want to go after preparing (team) for the next 20 years. I am doing it. My success lies in how I prepare my team who will be able to deftly handle things. This is my benchmark for me.”
He said politics needs continuous entry of good people who put mission over ambition, and summarised his ideology as “nation first”.
Asked if he sees such potential in any young politician, he said they are many of them.
“They toil, they work with a mission. If I say a name it will be injustice to many others. There are a lot of names and faces in front of me. I know details of a lot of people but it is my responsibility to not do injustice to others,” he added.
Modi said it has been his life’s mantra that he may make mistakes but he will not do anything wrong out of bad intentions.
He said, “When I became (Gujarat) chief minister I said I will not spare any effort to work hard. I will not do anything for myself. And, thirdly, I am human and I can make mistakes. But I will not do anything wrong out of bad intentions. i have made it a mantra of my life. Mistakes are inevitable. I must have made mistakes. I am a human too, not a god.”
Noting that one-third seats for MLAs and LokSabha members will be reserved for women in near future, he said women are already present in local bodies due to 50 per cent reservation for them in many states and asked them to work to become as capable as they can be to prepare themselves for assemblies and Parliament.
The prime minister described himself as not a typical politician, and his time is mostly spent on governance.
“I have to make political speeches during elections. It is my compulsion. I dont like it but I have to do it. All my time is spent on governance outside elections. And when I was not in power, my time was entirely focussed on organisation. On development of human resources…,” he said.
Asserting that he has never confined himself to a comfort zone, Modi said his risk-taking ability has hardly been utilised. “My risk-taking ability is several times more,” he said, adding that it was because he never bothered about himself.
In his third term, he said he felt more emboldened and his dreams have widened. In first two terms, he used to judge his work by the progress it has made since he began. “Now my thoughts are in the context of Viksit Bharat by 2047,” he added.
Modi said his thrust on “minimum government maximum government” was misinterpreted by some people who thought it meant fewer ministers or government employees. It was never his concept, he said, noting he created separated ministries such as for skill development and fisheries.
It was about cutting down on lengthy official processes, he said, citing the ending of over 40,000 compliances and repeal of over 1,500 laws as steps in that direction.
In the podcast which touched on different phases of his life, Modi described himself as an ordinary student in school who studied merely to pass the exam but participated in different activities and was always curious.
“My struggles have been the university which has taught me,” he said, noting that his father did not allow him to apply for admission in a sainik school due to lack of money. He, however, was never disappointed, he added.
KV News
