Former IAS officer Wajahat Habibullah today asserted here that public confidence in elected governments is undermined if access to routine information about the working of the administration is denied.
Delivering the keynote address at a day-long interactive workshop on the J&K RTI Act at the Central University Kashmir, Habibullah, former Chief Information Commissioner and Chairman of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), described RTI as an instrument for building public trust in the government.
“RTI enables the public and government to work together to find solutions to problems of governance and development”, he said. Urging every effort to be made to involve youth in the ongoing debate on current issues, he referred to allegations that children were being held under Public Safety Act despite an amendment prohibiting the detention of persons aged less than 18 years. Involving the youth would be a crucial measure to reduce the current atmosphere of discontent.
There were about 60 participants at the workshop including faculty members, representatives of the University administration and students of the Faculty of Law. (KNS)