Assembly passes RTI, VAT Acts

The state assembly on Friday passed four bills including the Right to Information (RTI) Act and Jammu and Kashmir Value Added Tax Act 2005 before the speaker adjourned it sine-die. Four bills -- RTI Act, J-K Value Added Tax Act 2005, J-K State Commission for Backward Classes Act 1997 and a bill to Prohibit and Regulate Handling and Disposal of Non-biodegradable Material in the state and the matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. All the bills were passed with voice vote. The RTI Act was passed after a heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches over the loopholes in the law.

Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Minister Taj Mohiuddin said government wanted transparency in its functioning and that is why it wanted to make RTI Act at par with the Central Act. There were some loopholes in the principal act passed by the House in 2004 and we want to bridge the gap.

He said suggestions put forth by leader of the opposition Abdul Rahim Rather and his other colleagues were positive and good but we are in a hurry to pass the bill.