Terming the right to information a prerequisite to democracy, good governance and poverty alleviation, the dignitaries from home and abroad at the concluding ceremony called for making people at the grassroots level aware of their right to information for realisation of their demand.

They asked the civil society members and the NGOs to forge a unity in this regard, which will ultimately create a pressure on the government to enact the law.

Manusher Jonno (MJ), an initiative promoting human rights and good governance in the country, organised the conference titled "Right to Information: National and Regional Perspective" at the Bangladesh Institute of Administration and Management (Biam) as a part of its ongoing campaign to institute people's right to know.

Noted economist Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud chaired the concluding session of the conference while Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office Dr Kamal Uddin Siddiqui addressed the function as the Chief Guest.

Maja Dhun Daruwala, director of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, India, and Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena, legal consultant to the World Bank from Sri Lanka, were the special guests. MJ Team Leader Shaheen Anam gave vote of thanks.

Rina Roy and Shanjida Sobhan of MJ presented the recommendations drawn from the two brainstorming sessions where seven parallel workshops on various issues related to the conference theme and a roundtable on the role of media in promoting the right were followed by a plenary session.

Stressing the need for enactment of the right to information laws, Prof Mahmud said these will work as strong deterrents to any sort of corruption by any government official.

He said enactment of the Right to Information Act should be applicable for the government as well as the private sector as disclosure of information in the latter will protect the interest of the shareholders.

He also said right to information in the private sector will help protect consumers' rights and bring accountability and transparency in the funds and expenditure of election campaigns of the political parties.

Prof Mahmud said the right to information will be meaningful if remedial measures are taken as a provision in the law. He said there should be provision of taking action against those who will violate the law.

Dr Kamal Uddin Siddiqui promised to do his best for the enactment of the Right to Information Act.

He said many good recommendations have been drawn from the conference and assured to do his job as a civil servant to include the suggestions to the draft Right to Information Act-2002.

Siddiqui said the recommendations should be understandable to common people and stressed the need for a strong will and advocacy for the implementation of the right to information.

Siddiqui also stressed the need for amending the outdated Official Secrets Act as it was formulated during colonial rule.

MJ Team Leader Shaheen Anam asked all the participants to impart their enriched knowledge about the right to information among the people at the grassroots level. "Make the people at the grassroots level aware of their right to information through small examples," she said.

Three parallel workshops were held on the last day of the conference.

With research director of BIDS Dr Rushdan Islam as the moderator, INCIDIN Bangladesh Executive Director AKM Masud Ali presented the keynote paper at the workshop on International Trade and Development: Right to Information. Dhaka University professor MM Akash, General Secretary of Consumers Association of Bangladesh Qazi Faruque, Adviser to MJ Farzana Naim were the panellists. Mohammad Shahidullah, project co-ordinator of the Karmajibi Nari, presented a case study.

Suhashini from India presented the keynote paper at the workshop on Implementation and Monitoring of Rights to Information Act, moderated by Executive Director of BELA Syeda Rezwana Hasan. Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Advocate Shahdeen Malik and Programme Manager of MJ Kartik Chandra Mandal discussed as the panellists.

Professor of Dhaka University Dr Salahuddin Aminuzzaman read out the keynote paper at the workshop on Empowering Local Government in Ensuring Access to Information, chaired by Chittagong University professor Dr Tofael Ahmed. Country Director of Hunger Project Badiul Alam Majumder, Deputy Chief of ARD Dr Zarina Rahman Khan, Deputy Chief of LGD Dr Zahirul Haq, and programme manager of MJ Sheela Tasneem Haq were the panellists.