Update Govt Websites

                     
Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat
 
After issuance of a circular by the General Administration Department (GAD) on
29.1.2021, a Government order was issued recently wherein a committee was
constituted for continuous and concurrent updation of official websites. Vide
Government order No: 148-JK (GAD) of 2021 dated: 13.02.2021 the Government
accorded a sanction for constitution of a three member committee headed by the
Secretary to Government Information Technology (IT) Department. State
Informatics Officer (SIO) of National Informatics Center (NIC) J&K and a
representative from J&K e-Governance agency to be nominated by Secretary IT
Department are the two other members of the committee. The aim of
constituting the committee is to continuously supervise the updation of official
websites of Govt departments and districts in Union Territory of J&K.
For information of readers a delegation of Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement has
brought the matter related to non updation of Government websites into the
notice of Lt Governor Manoj Sinha when we met him in Srinagar on January 18 th .
For the last several years this author has been highlighting the issue but there was
no response from the Government. Finally we had to take up this issue at the
highest level with Lt Governor. In one of my columns titled Social media outreach
of Government published in a local English daily on January 21 st 2021, I had
exposed many administrative departments and district websites who have not
been updating their websites for last several years and on the other hand
Government keeps making tall claims about implementing the flagship
programme on digital transformation in India like digital India and many other
programmes related to this.
Digital India 
Covid-19  lockdown enhanced the digital transformation India. It is said that India
is now the 2 nd fastest digitizing economy . The technology is growing fast , as the
country is seen as a great destination for new products and a market that has yet

to be tapped. The trend is affirmed by a recent report from the McKinsey Global
Institute that shows businesses in India are transforming to the digital economy at
a pace that trails only Indonesia. India is also the second fastest-growing market
for digital consumers. The country had 560 million internet subscribers in 2018,
trailing only China. The report says that Indian mobile data users consume 8.3
gigabytes (GB) of data every month on average, compared with 5.5 GB for mobile
users in China and somewhere in the range of 8.0 to 8.5 GB in South Korea, which
is an advanced digital economy. Enabled by massive investment in new
technology and a huge internet market driven by 560 million connected
consumers, India has emerged as an upcoming leader in digital solutions, but
when we see other side of the story we have Government departments who not
even are bothered to upload the recent orders and circulars on their websites ?
They don’t want people to see the beneficiary list of various Government
schemes like PMAY , PM Kissan etc ? They want to keep the public in the dark
which strengthens mis-governance and maladministration.
 Good learning from COVID 19
COVID 19 pandemic which made lives difficult and brought a lot of miseries into
the world economy taught us many lessons. We have now come to this
conclusion that without meeting people physically or travelling long distances to
attend workshops, seminars and meetings, the same can be held through virtual
mode as well. Digital platforms like online zoom , skype etc have been used a lot
during last 1 year . These facilities were available in the recent past also but its
importance was not explored properly. Similarly, governments across the world
became more active on social media during  COVID 19 pandemic  which has
brought them closer to people. I have been following regular posts of various
senior Government officers of J&K who were very active on social media during
the peak of the COVID 19 pandemic. These officers continue to be active even
now.  But when it comes to the updation and maintenance of the official websites
of J&K Government we are lagging behind almost all the states and UT’s. I
appreciate that the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj department in Civil
Secretariat has finally updated its website which was otherwise defunct for more
than 2 years. The Tribal Affairs department website continues to be in shambles. I
had written about it several times and even the February  18 th deadline
announced by GAD in its Jan 21 st circular is over , the Tribal Affairs department in
J&K has not even uploaded the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and its rules on its website.
The obsolete information related to repealed J&K RTI Act 2009 continues to be on

this website along with the official websites of J&K Jal Shakti Department and
several other public authorities. This are just few examples , I can quote hundreds
of such examples. I wish all the Government websites in J&K were updated and
activated on the pattern of GAD website which is the only well maintained official
website in J&K Government.
  
 Mohammad Ramzan’s case
The implementation of Digital India flagship programme in J&K can be judged
from the fact that J&K Public Service Commission (PSC) called a 71 year old man
to its Jammu office for an appeal hearing. At a time when virtual meetings are
given more thrust by Govt. By calling an old man to Jammu from Srinagar seems
not only absurd but this is an insult to Digital India programme. In one of my
articles in this newspaper , I had highlighted how PSC was violating the Right to
Information and Mohammad Ramzan Khan’s application filed under the act
remained unaddressed. Instead of rectifying its failures the PSC few months back
asked  Mr Khan, father of an aggrieved J&K civil service aspirant to travel to
Jammu from Srinagar for a simple RTI appeal hearing which can be done through
video conferencing as well.  The First Appellate Authority (FAA) should be taken to
task by the authorities for issuing such order.  Pertinently Mr Khan had filed an
application under the RTI Act 2005 before the designated Public Information
Officers  (PIO) of JKPSC . In his reply dated 21.12.2020 the Deputy Secretary of J&K
PSC  Vinay Samotra who is the designated PIO had told the applicant that PSC
does not provide evaluated answer scripts of the candidates. He however asked
the applicant that he could inspect the papers as per record retention schedule.
Mr Khan had alleged that his son Irfan Khan had qualified J&K Combined Civil
Services mains exam and appeared for interview, but could not find his name the
list of qualifying candidates. He told me that Irfan fared well in the anthropology
paper, but got less marks and thus wanted to know whether the evaluation has
been made correctly or not ? This is his right as in the past also PSC has provided
such information on the direction of J&K State Information Commission. How can
they deny the same when they have already provided it on several occasions ?
This is completely ridiculous and a violation of the orders of the Supreme Court ,
CIC and JK SIC as well. When the aggrieved filed an appeal , ironically  he was
asked to appear for an appeal hearing at PSC’s Jammu office ?

How is it possible for a senior citizen to travel 300 kms in harsh winter when
Srinagar Jammu highway remains mostly blocked ? Now Mr Khan has filed 2 nd
appeal before Central Information Commission (CIC) New Delhi.
Conclusion
At a time when India is leapfrogging into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, how
can authorities at helm in J&K Government not even make the official websites of
the Government updated on a regular basis ? When the Digital India flagship
programme is transforming the country into a digitally empowered society and
knowledge economy, the Deputy Commissioners in UT of J&K fail to even put the
updated data of centrally sponsored schemes like housing for poor (PMAY) and
PM Kissan beneficiaries on their official websites ? When the government’s digital
model is narrowing the digital divide and bringing technology to even the most
remote parts of the country, many officers in J&K administration are not ready to
be part of this digital revolution. I would suggest these officers particularly the
erring Deputy Commissioners and HOD’s be declared deadwood and let bright
officers be given chance to show their talent….
 Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow and Founder & Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir
RTI Movement….
Feedback bhatrajamuzaffar@gmail.com