Govt websites keep people in the dark

Visitors to the food ministry’s website would reasonably expect to find data on public food grain reserves, import and procurement figures, silo and storage capacity, and details of the Open Market Sale (OMS) programme. Locating any of this, however, proves difficult.

Basic information disclosure, it seems, remains a distant dream for Bangladesh’s government, as ministries don’t even regularly publish their annual reports.

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A review by The Daily Star of 37 ministries and nine divisions on the Bangladesh National Portal found that a majority have failed to publish annual reports on their websites, despite a legal requirement to do so.

This leaves the public with limited access to information about government activities, spending, and performance, users and experts say.

At least 20 ministries and divisions had reports available only up to 2023, with no updates for the following years. On one ministry website, reports were listed but could not be accessed, while a number of government websites had never published an annual report at all.

Some ministry websites do not even include a dedicated section for annual reports, indicating broader gaps in compliance with transparency and disclosure requirements.

The publication of annual reports is mandatory.

Section 6 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act requires public authorities to disclose information. The law specifically requires authorities to publish annual reports containing information on their organisational structure, activities, responsibilities, decision-making processes and major policy decisions.

The Information Commission’s Proactive Information Disclosure Guidelines 2014 also require ministries and government agencies to publish annual reports on their websites.

Md Tarikul Islam, a professor of government and politics at Jahangirnagar University, said the requirement goes to the heart of transparency and accountability.

“The Right to Information Act not only guarantees citizens’ right to seek information but also places an important obligation on public institutions to disclose information,” he told The Daily Star.

“When annual reports are not published, it becomes difficult to obtain comprehensive and credible information on government activities, budget implementation, achievements, institutional challenges and future plans.”

He said the lack of disclosure undermines evidence-based policymaking and limits public understanding of government activities.

For journalists, the lack of updated information is a daily challenge.

“When websites are not updated, we often have to rely on unofficial sources or file Right to Information requests, which can take time,” said Himel Hasnat Rafi, a former reporter at The Daily Observer.

He said this often delays stories and reduces their news value.

“The absence of up-to-date data on ministry budgets, allocations, and activities makes it difficult to verify the transparency of government projects and investigate possible irregularities or corruption,” he said.

LACK OF DIRECTIVES

As a norm, the Cabinet Division sends letters to the ministries every year asking them to prepare the annual report under the RTI, while the respective ministries are responsible for preparing and publishing the reports, said Rahed Hossain, additional secretary at the public administration ministry.

“Ministries form their own committees that oversee and supervise the preparation of the reports,” he told The Daily Star.

Ministry officials said the reports were not published because no directives were issued during the interim government’s tenure. Some also cited technical problems and delays in appointing members to the Information Commission.

“A letter is issued every fiscal year under the Right to Information Act, but that did not happen this time,” said Imdadul Islam, information and public relations officer at the food ministry.

Rahed also gave a similar explanation.

Officials at the ministries of women and children affairs, labour and employment, and information also cited reasons such as a lack of priority, limited awareness of the requirement, or uncertainty about who was responsible for publishing the reports.

Ahmed Ali, deputy secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, also blamed the delay in appointing Information Commission members as well as the pending amendment to the RTI Act.

Without timely appointments to the Information Commission, ministries face little accountability to disclose annual reports.

TRANSPARENCY CONCERNS

This is by no means a recent issue. A 2021 study by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), which reviewed 153 government and 39 NGO websites, found that 54 percent of government websites had an “inadequate” level of disclosure.

TIB had recommended regular publication of budgets, reports and officials’ contact details. The Daily Star review found much of this remains unrealised.

Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of TIB, said the continued failure to publish annual reports reflects a broader disregard for legal obligations.

“This is an example of how the government in general and relevant public officials in particular violate their specific legal obligations,” he told this newspaper.

He said the BNP government, which pledged greater transparency and accountability, should move quickly to honour the promise.

“Given that the newly elected government has secured the people’s mandate based, in part, on its commitment to transparency and accountability in governance, it should attach high priority to overcoming this colonial culture of secrecy and move towards a culture of openness sooner rather than later,” he said.