Srinagar, Jun 11 (KNO): Amid demand from certain quarters to make the cabinet sub-committee’s report on reservation public, J&K’s former bureaucrats on Wednesday said that it is ultimately up to the cabinet to decide whether to disclose the panel’s recommendations or keep them confidential.
Talking to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), former IAS and ex- chairman of Public Service Commission (PSC) Lateef-ul-Zaman Deva said the cabinet holds the authority to either disclose the report or keep it confidential.
“The authority of making the report public lies with the cabinet,” Deva said.
Former IAS officer Khursheed Ahmad Shah, who has also served as administrative secretary of General Administration Department (GAD), said that cabinet proposals are confidential documents and cannot be made public unless the cabinet approves or rejects them.
On December 10, 2024, the NC-led government constituted a ministerial panel headed by Minister for Social Welfare, Sakina Ittoo to examine the need for rationalization of existing reservation policy. The Minister on Tuesday claimed that the report has been drafted and would be placed before the cabinet.
The Minister’s assertion that the cabinet sub-committee’s report on reservation has been drafted has intensified calls for its public disclosure, with various stakeholders demanding wider scrutiny.
J&K Government’s handbook on the preparation of cabinet notes and memoranda for submission to the cabinet and administrative council does not explicitly address whether reports of cabinet sub-committees (CSCs) can be made public. However, it strongly advocates for extensive media coverage of cabinet decisions.
“It is important that the decisions of the administrative council/cabinet are given wide and effective publicity by leveraging the range and reach of mass media, social media and personal media having focused attention on target groups, beneficiaries, regions, etc. A well formulated communication plan for decisions, which need to be highlighted, is necessary to reach out to the people by utilizing various channels for dissemination of information,” the handbook states.
In 2022, the Kerala High Court held that potential cabinet papers not brought before the Council of Ministers need not be provided under Right to Information Act (RTI).
The Court held that the exemption provided under the RTI Act, under section 8(1) (i), for cabinet papers until the Council takes a decision also applies to potential cabinet papers—(KNO)