
Suthorities should also be reminded that Article 19-A empowers citizens to have access to information
KARACHI: Citizens elect lawmakers so that they safeguard the welfare and rights of the people. Each member of national and provincial assemblies is a representative of the citizens who have brought them to power. Members are constitutionally obligated to present and discuss the issues of their constituencies, but unfortunately MNAs rarely take part in any debate regarding issues that citizens face. Complaints are left unheard and helpless voices fall on deaf ears.
The truth is that for many years, NGOs have been the unsung heroes of the country. They work tirelessly to ameliorate the problems that citizens face and in times of crisis they are the first to stand up. Government officials are elected by the people, for the people but there seems to be no transparency regarding the countless issues and complaints that citizens have filed. Citizens never know whether their issues are raised in parliament.
The only medium that allows citizens to access their elected representatives is the National Assembly’s web portal which is well maintained and contains all information on national and regional issues is both Urdu and English. There is, however, a dire need to develop a similar web portal at the provincial level with a section where citizens can lodge their complaints directly. Unless we have comprehensive data collection system, we cannot formulate policies effectively.
The authorities should also be reminded that Article 19-A empowers citizens to have access to information in all matters of public importance. Therefore, there is need to develop voter-centric web portals to allow people to access public information with ease.
Ashfak Siyal
Published in The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2020.
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