Success stories can improve our woefully low awareness of RTI
RTI Act is one of our most powerful instruments to hold the government accountable.
1y ago
The State of RTI in South Asia: The Pakistan Case
Over the last two decades, most of South Asia has adopted right to information (RTI) laws, also known as freedom of information (FOI) or access to information (A2I) laws.
1y ago
RTI in Bangladesh: Narrowing the perception gap between citizens and public authorities
The Bangladesh Right to Information (RTI) Act 2009 is a unique piece of legislation. Most laws are largely founded on the concept of government responsibility to regulate citizen behaviour, but the RTI law establishes government accountability to its citizens.
2y ago
Right to Information: What can we learn from Sri Lanka's experience?
Sri Lanka was the last country in South Asia to adopt the Right to Information Act (RTI) in 2017. For many of us who were involved in discussions with our Sri Lankan counterparts before adoption of the law, it is gratifying to note the progress it has made in these two years. There is much that we can learn from their experience and use in Bangladesh.
5y ago
Making public exams transparent
Competitive examinations are a long-standing and important fact of life for our youth entering public service. But few know that the Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2009 can play an effective role to ensure that these exams are transparent and fair.
6y ago
Learning from the US's experience
There are obvious and big differences between the socio-economic and political conditions of Bangladesh and the US and the extent of their Right to Information (RTI) experiences.
6y ago
RTI Act 2009: A powerful tool against poverty
Yet the RTI Act is hardly known for being put to use in significant numbers. It has so far worked mainly with the marginalised and disadvantaged communities because of the help of NGOs and activists. The educated and the middle classes are yet to be fired by the powerful reach of the law.
7y ago
Welcoming the new CIC
Unfortunately, citizens are yet to rise to the occasion and play a meaningful role to take the law forward. Demands for information are yet to pour into government offices in large numbers to test the system.
8y ago
September 28, 2015
Challenging irregularities in the Education Sector
A common reaction of most people about the RTI Act is a lack of trust in its efficacy. It is this general lack of faith in the willingness of public officials to break away from the age-old culture of official secrecy...
July 16, 2015
The meaning of “information” under RTI Law – PART 2
When people, even the poorest of the poor, experience that they have a legal right to ask for and get information, or at least a response, from powerful civil servants whose shadows they would not dare to cross in the past, it generates a sense of empowerment and a feeling that they are much less unequal and oppressed than they thought.
July 15, 2015
The meaning of “information” under the RTI law (PART 1)
In last month's column, we said that a key reason for the tardy progress of the Right to Information Act (RTI) in the country is general disbelief that the age-old practice of official secrecy in the work of public authorities will change just because there is a new law that seeks to end it.
June 15, 2015
A revolutionary law
The Right to Information Act (RTI), one of the most important laws of Bangladesh that came into force on July 1, 2009, is perhaps also the country's least known. Many see it as the most revolutionary law adopted by the Bangladesh Parliament.
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