RTI begins journey
WE commend the government for finally forming the RTI Commission. However, we reserve our comments about the appropriateness of its composition. Out of the three members of the commission, two are former bureaucrats. Ironically, the perception of bureaucrats acting in favour of suppressing information and refusing to make them public still has deep root in people's minds. And there are reasons for that. For decades, government and semi-government sectors have been keeping valuable information tied with the infamous "red tape" in the name of maintaining official secrecy. The practice only resulted in breeding suspicion and contempt in public mind. With the Information Commission now set to start functioning, it would be a trial for the members how best they would perform in breaking the bureaucratic hold on information.
The Right to Information Ordinance 2008, as we recall, was initiated by the caretaker government. It was eventually ratified by parliament on March 29, 2009. The president signed it into a law on April 5, and a gazette notification to that effect was published on April 6. Understandably, all provisions of the act will be retroactive since October 20, 2008.
The Information Commission is the embodiment of a long and arduous struggle of the civil society, non-government organizations, media and human rights organizations for establishing the right to information. Now every citizen of the country will enjoy the right to have access to information regarding any government, semi-government and non-government organization, with the exception of some agencies that are involved in national security and intelligence works.
The officials concerned, however, must not think that their work has been done with the commission coming into being. On the contrary, they have much more to accomplish, especially in building infrastructure right from the capital to the upazila level, and the officials entrusted with the job will have to be sufficiently equipped and empowered to give information. Therefore, the efficacy of the commission will largely depend on the skill and motivation of the group of officials who will work as points of contact. The commission will also have to undertake countrywide public awareness campaigns in collaboration with the civil society, NGOs and media so that people can judiciously exercise the right to their advantage.
We strongly believe the Information Commission would help attain the much needed transparency and accountability in the works of the government, removing unwarranted secrecy and administrative bottleneck. The Chief Information Commissioner has rightly said that once fully in effect, RTI would help strengthen democracy and ensure good governance.
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