Pakistan’s RTI law is well intentioned and could serve an important public purpose.
SAHIWAL: “We are not supposed to share any information with the public until and unless we want to,” was the gist of a recent conversation I had with some bureaucrats on the Right to Information Act (RTI Act). I had submitted application for the provision of some public documents and the major purpose was to see how well this act worked in practice.
The RTI law was passed by the previous PPP government in 2010 and my experience suggests that its implementation is severely lacking. One of the bureaucrats went on to say that the data I had asked for was not available and he did not seem too pushed about complying with the RTI request. In fact, this conversation took place well after a month had passed from my initial application based on the RTI law. So, the whole point of having such a good law in place is being defeated by our bureaucrats who, it seem, don’t want to provide any information at all to the general public.
Consider the example of India, which has a similar law in place since 2005. Following its passage, an independent central information commission was set up and was headed by a Chief Information Commissioner. Furthermore, 10 state information commissioners were appointed as well and all administrative offices and government departments have public information officers. The India RTI law also sets a realistic time limit — that of 30 days — by which time the information must be provided. In cases relating to the life or liberty of a citizen, this period is a mere 48 hours.
Pakistan’s RTI law is well intentioned and could serve an important public purpose, only if its bureaucrats change their mindset and dispense with the view that it is their primary duty to keep information away from the public. What is also needed is that the people at large should be made aware of the existence of such a law so, at the very least, they know that they have the right to ask the government of information relating to public policies, government-funded schemes and so on.
Rizwan Safdar
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2013.
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