Digital Bangladesh thru' RTI implementation
Says minister
Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Abul Kalam Azad addresses a discussion organised by Right to Information Forum in the city's Brac Centre Inn yesterday marking International Right to Know Day. On his right are Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Nijera Kori Coordinator Khushi Kabir, Manusher Jonno Foundation Executive Director Shaheen Anam and Chief Information Commissioner Muhammad Zamir.Photo: STAR
The government would establish digital Bangladesh by 2021 through implementation of the Right to Information Act (RTI), the information minister told a roundtable yesterday. Abul Kalam Azad, minister for Information and Cultural Affairs, said, “Formulation of the law manifests the government's emphasis on people's right to get information, and its enactment was followed by the establishment of a functioning independent commission". Azad was addressing the roundtable arranged by Right to Information Forum at the city's Brac Centre Inn, marking the International Right to Know Day yesterday. The programme began with the presentation a survey report on the status of RTI act implementation. The study jointly conducted by the Institute of Informatics and Development and D.Net involved over 216 institutions including 108 government ones. More than 60 percent of the people surveyed said the existing Information Commission is not strong enough to function independently while more than 50 percent even do not know the law is being implemented. About 60 percent people who were denied information by different institutions, mainly governmental, said they did not get the information, as the authority does not have the information stored. NGO activists attending the programme from across the country complained that the majority of the government officials even does not know about the law. “The first step required to implement the law is to make government officials aware about it", said Nijera Kari coordinator Khushi Kabir. She added, "It is the government employees who harass information seekers the most". Chief Information Commissioner Muhammad Zamir said unwillingness of NGO is holding back the expected implementation of the law. He mentioned that out of about 3,000 NGOs, only 514 have so far appointed designated officer although each of them is required, by the law, to make the appointment in six months after the law was formulated in 2009. He claimed about 8,500 government offices have already appointed designated officer who would deliver information under the law. Manusher Jonno Foundation Executive Director Shaheen Anam moderated the roundtable attended by Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman and Information Commissioner Abu Taher, among others.
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