The roundtable titled 'Right to information legislation in India: How Bangladesh can benefit' was held at the Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (Bilia) auditorium in the city.

Presenting a keynote paper, Vinod Sahgal, regional public financial accountability specialist, World Bank, discussed the Right to Information Act 2005 of India and the ways how it can be translated into Bangladesh perspective.

The Right to Information Act came into force in India on October 13, 2005 with a view to ensuring universal access to information. Here, information means any material in any form, including e-mails, opinions, advices, contracts and samples, and the 'right to' means inspection of works, documents, records, taking notes, extracts, or certified copies of documents or records. It has exempted any information that may affect the sovereignty and integrity of India or may be contempt of court.

With this right to information, individuals are tackling personal or societal issues, groups of individuals or NGOs are resolving a set of individual or societal problems, communities are demanding institutional and governmental accountability through social auditing, said Vinod Sahgal.

"There are instances of social auditing... civil work in resettlement colonies has improved, leaking pipeline has been repaired, incomplete civil work completed, wrong electricity bills corrected, incomplete road repaired, public distribution system has improved and a national campaign against bribes has been initiated," he said.

However, bureaucratic hurdles are still there, he observed, stressing the need to bring changes to the mindset of the bureaucrats. "Very often they are driven by a sense of self-righteousness."

He also laid emphasis on building partnership with the government for institutionalising transparency.

Sahgal underscored the need to enact the Right to Information Act in Bangladesh in order to involve the marginalised segment of the people in decision making.

Former ambassador Waliur Rahman, director and CEO of Bilia, said that though the Bangladesh Law Commission drafted a working paper on the Right to Information Act in 2002, little is known about its current status.

He added that efforts are underway to draft a law based on the existing paper through participation of a wide range of people, including lawyers, academics and journalists, who are trying to raise mass awareness about the right to information.

"In India, the demand for such law came from common people instead of an idea from some urban elites. It is, therefore, important that we should continue to raise awareness about the issue, especially its impact on the common people," he said.

Saiful Bari, adviser to the ATN Bangla, urged the caretaker government to seriously consider the Right to Information Act.