Rural people should be encouraged to use RTI
The Right to Information (RTI) Act is a powerful tool to know whether institutions which run with public money are functioning properly, said speakers at a national seminar yesterday.
However, the act becomes useless when the public do not use it to exercise their right to know, they added.
The seminar on "Strengthening Citizenship among the Marginalised through Participatory Action Research and RTI Act" was organised by the Research Initiatives Bangladesh (RIB) at Hotel Lake Castle in the capital.
Representatives of marginalised communities who earlier faced difficulties due to a lengthy process of extracting information yesterday described how they were benefitted when RIB informed them about the act and assisted them in using it.
RIB Chairman Shamsul Bari said rural people's ignorance about the act is the main hurdle.
Some NGOs faced difficulties to engage people as they sometimes hesitate and also even fear to seek information from the authorities concerned.
If the hesitation can be removed by making people aware of the act, they will use it spontaneously, he added.
RIB Executive Director Meghna Guhathakurta said marginalised communities can benefit themselves and also hold government representatives and officials accountable by questioning them, for example, how Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) card recipients' lists are prepared.
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