Law’s importance came under discussion at consultation conference. PHOTO: FILE
PESHAWAR:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has nominated two individuals for the post of Right to Information (RTI) commissioner.
Sahibzada Muhammad Khalid was appointed the Chief Information Commissioner RTI on December 6 last year and official sources have revealed that the government has short listed two people for the slot of commissioner.
An official said a notification in this regard will be issued soon, adding one of the selected officials is Shahjehan Sayed, a former chairman of the Mass Communication department at the University of Peshawar. The second name was not shared with The Express Tribune. The official confided that the World Bank has provided Rs60 million to the K-P government to help build RTI structure in the province.
Meanwhile, during a conference on RTI on Thursday, participants said corruption in public affairs can be reduced through effective implementation and operationalisation of RTI legislation.
Civil society activists and RTI experts were at a consultation conference organised by Development, Environment, Legal Aid, Technical Support and Advocacy Association (Delta) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme.
Delta President Naazlee Sardar urged participants to empower themselves and demand their right to information to “foster democracy and ensure accountability and transparency”. She said the K-P government’s newly-promulgated Right to Information Act 2013 is a bold step to allow citizens to monitor the government.
Former secretary information Hanif Orakzai highlighted the government’s efforts in drafting the act, while Dr Riffat Sardar presented an analytical review of it.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA Ayesha Gulalai highlighted the ease of requesting information under the act and the protection it provides to whistleblowers.
Other participants who spoke on the occasion included Pakistan Muslim Leage-Nawaz leader Akbar Hayat, acting Higher Education Commission Chairman Imtiaz Hussain Gilani, former National Accountability Bureau chief Khurshid Alam and RTI chief information commissioner Sahibzada Khalid.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2014.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Ayesha Gulalai is an MNA, not an MPA