It is need of the hour for a public awareness campaign to be launched about this law so that people know their rights.
SAHIWAL: According to Article 19-A of the 1973 Constitution, every citizen has the right to get information from any state-owned body if it is in the public interest. The Freedom of Information Ordinance was passed in 2002. After this, it was changed into the Right to Information (RTI) Act under the Eighteenth Amendment.
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab governments have taken the good step to pass the RTI law. In Punjab’s case, the RTI law is being openly debated in public. Many questions have been raised in the minds of the people regarding this law; for instance, how will this law be imposed? Will this law be of benefit to the public? Will the relevant organisations give information to the common man when petitioned? What is also important is that people not only talk about wanting good governance, they should also be taking sound steps in order to make this happen.
According to a recent analytical survey, four million people in India made use of the country’s Right to Information law in 2011-12. Out of all these cases, not a single Indian citizen was reported to have misused the law. By expressing concern about the RTI law, public sector officials often forget that even they are citizens of the state and can make use of this law. It is the need of the hour for a public awareness campaign to be launched about this law so that the people know their rights and once the law is enacted, make use of it. The media and civil society can play a vital role in this regard.
Alweera Rashid
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2013.
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