Strong mechanism needed to enforce Right to Info Act

The proposed Right to Information Act, once enacted, could be ineffective if it is not interpreted correctly and a strong mechanism is not created to implement it, speakers at a roundtable said yesterday.
The objective of the act is to provide people with a legal basis to seek information from the government, non-government or corporate bodies, but it will not function properly if a lot of conditions are attached to it, they said.
The Mass-line Media Centre (MMC) organised the roundtable on 'The scope of Right to Information Act and its long-term impact' at LGED auditorium in the city in association with Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF).
"In most cases, laws become farcical if they are not implemented properly. They can even be perversely interpreted," said Public Service Commission (PSC) Chairman Dr Saadat Hussain as the chief guest.
"It may appear that the law would enable the people to secure all sorts of information, but actually they might have access to nothing," he said, adding that transparency of the authorities depends on their mindset.
The authorities should not have any problem in providing information if they have honest intention, but if they have bad intention, they will put up barriers, he said.
Appreciating in-depth reporting of the media, the PSC chairman agreed with the proposed creation of a National Information Commission to settle disputes between the information seekers and providers.
Dr Golam Rahman, chairperson of the journalism department at Daffodil University, said the law alone cannot ensure the right to information unless there is a culture of providing it for public interest.
"The authorities cannot resort to rampant corruption if there is a right to information act," he said, adding that the government should also have the capacity and mechanism of preserving information.
Presiding over the roundtable, Law Commission Member Dr M Enamul Haque said there should be some reservations about providing information, but they must be justified.
Speaking as the special guest, MJF Executive Director Shaheen Anam said the main objective of the proposed Right to Information Act is to hold the government accountable to the people.
"Enactment of the law is the first initiative to this end, but surely there should be a mechanism to monitor how it is implemented," she said, adding that the means to access information should also be devised.
Toby Mendel, director (law) of Article 19, a Canada-based organisation, said free flow of information creates enabling environment to do better business, exercise democratic norms and ensures social accountability.
Appreciating Bangladesh's initiative to enact a right to information act, he said, "The people must be engaged in enforcing the law. People of all levels should be aware of that and the civil society has a role to play in it."
An open policy-based civil service is an imperative to better manage information, which is the key to information regime, he added.
In his keynote paper, Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Tanjib Ul Alam said, "One of the major loopholes in the proposed act is the exemptions from disclosure of information, which may well be construed widely by the relevant authorities to refrain from providing information."
The law will not be an effective one without a strong mechanism to implement it, he said in the paper read out by Mir Shahidul Alam of MMC.
Aliur Rahman, senior trainer at the Press Institute of Bangladesh, said the right to information is lifeline of all rights of the people. Therefore, the government should set up outlets at the grassroots level to provide information, he added.