Common in Pakistan in the Federation and all four provinces Right to Information (RTI) or Access to Information Citizens under the law of Government departments Exercising the right to information from Karachi journalist Azmat Khan has submitted more than 600 requests, out of which 30% of the departments have not provided the required information despite being legally bound.
In a conversation with Independent Urdu, Azmat Khan said that as a journalist, he gets information from sources related to various departments, but to write news based on this information, he needs solid evidence, which is usually not available.
According to Azmat Khan: ‘When I came to know about the Access to Information Act, I started applying for information from various government agencies under this Act. These applications were sent to the Information Commissions of the Federation, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.
‘I have submitted more than 600 applications so far. Of these, I received responses from 70 percent of institutions, while 30 percent did not provide information. Two percent of applications were rejected on technical grounds.
“Applications were rejected for not writing the correct question and period of information and several other reasons.”
He said that most of the responses were given by the Federal Information Commission. Sindh had a good response after federation.
In Sindh, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Sindh Police give answers easily. These are the only institutions that send me direct responses to my request instead of a commission. Some departments are very slow to respond.’
Azmat Khan said that some government departments do not respond despite being legally bound to provide information under the RTI Act.
According to Azmat Khan: ‘I have come to know that Rs 45 lakh was released to a professor of University of Karachi for dental treatment. I requested who is this professor. What kind of treatment and where did his tooth go? But I have not received a reply till today.
“Thus, I requested the State Bank of Pakistan to provide a list of 1000 credit bank defaulters. Gave several reminders for response but no response. Instead of responding, the State Bank paid a huge amount to the lawyer and filed a case in the Sindh High Court.
“Some information is such that it would benefit the public if it were revealed. But despite the law, some institutions do not give information.’
What do government departments have to do under the Access to Information Act?
Constitutional expert and senior lawyer of Sindh High Court Dr. Murtaza Khoro has filed a petition in Sindh High Court on non-implementation of RTA law in Sindh.
He said that under this law, government departments are obliged to give all information to ordinary citizens except personal and business secrets. Apart from this, departments have to do a lot to make information public under the law.’
Speaking to Independent Urdu, Dr. Murtaza Khoro said: ‘Under this law, all public officers and government institutions are required to create websites where all information including details of expenses actually incurred in a matter must be maintained.
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But the Sindh government is not following this law. It is being processed in the court.
According to Right to Information Commission Sindh Commissioner Shahid Jatoi: ‘With the passage of time, the requests received by the Sindh Commission under the RTI Act from ordinary citizens are increasing day by day.’
Speaking to Independent Urdu, Shahid Jatoi said: ‘Since June 2022, the Sindh Commission has received more than 1100 applications, in which the commission has taken information from the relevant government departments and given it to the citizens on more than 900 applications.
If common citizens use this law and get information, there will be transparency in government departments. Corruption will end. Democracy will be strong.’
On the question of government departments not providing information to the citizens, Shahid Jatoi admitted that in the past, the government institutions in Sindh used to delay in providing the required information to the citizens.
According to Shahid Jatoi, “Earlier we used to give notices, show signs and penalties to the institutions that did not provide information, but now the behavior of the government institutions in Sindh has improved a lot and many institutions respond to the first notice.”
#law #access #information #implemented #Pakistan
2024-10-05 02:15:24
