Editorial
Sensible words from JS committee
All concerned should pay heed
The parliamentary standing committee on the information ministry made two very pertinent points which can be deemed as wise counsel from inside the parliament and the ruling party for the good of the government itself. First of all, the chief of the JS body Obaidul Quader urged the government to 'accept criticism if it believes in democracy'. We have also been emphasizing the fact that the government of the day stands to benefit from constructive criticism from whichever quarter it might come. Rather than being in a denial mode when news or comments critiquing government performance appear, the institution or agency coming under fire for legitimate reasons should be encouraged to take it in the right spirit. That is the way they can improve their services and increase their credibility.
The government may not receive feedback from its agencies which may well be interested in pleasing the former with the words it would like to hear rather than furnish correct information. It is the independent and credible media which is the source on which the government can rely for gauging public pulse about where things are going right and where wrong. That is why the committee has told the information minister that 'the government and the media should work hand in hand to strengthen democracy'. As a matter of fact we would like the government to hold regular periodic press conferences to brief the newsmen on matters of national and public importance. There should be designated spokesman in each ministry and government directorate or office which is also ordained under the RTI.
The second point that the parliamentary body on information ministry made is of particular importance as far as implementing the right to information goes. Obaidul Quader pointed out emphatically, 'putting some computers on tables in the different government offices does not mean digital Bangladesh'. We couldn't agree more. He also lamented that the websites of different ministries have no updates on information once loaded into the computer. Some websites contained photographs of ministers and a spread-out of oath taking ceremony and nothing else. This is as ridiculous as making a mockery of digitisation.
Let the matter be not confined to rhetoric and tokenism, it should be adopted in right earnest. For, if transparency, accountability, incorruptibility and efficiency of the government are to be guaranteed there is no better way to ensure these than through computerisation of the administration.
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