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Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act is one legislation which is not implemented

It is sometimes hard to understand why governments put in place legislation they have no intention of implementing. This is what appears to have happened in the case of the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act passed in 2013, with rules put in place by 2014. Under the law, an information commission, able to offer information to the public regarding the working of government departments, was to be set up. However, office space to the commission was provided only early this year and officials working for it now say that nothing substantial has been done to permit them the right to access information from government departments. One problem here is that many departments have still not appointed Public Information Officers, as was required under the law. Another issue is that of understaffing of the commission. Around 43 officials should have formed part of it, but there remain many vacancies. The commission appears to be a body without the means to do its job. It seems the Punjab government passed the right to information law only as a knee-jerk reaction to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government enacting similar legislation.

Actions that are not backed by good intentions achieve little purpose. The commission has been hampered by the attitude of the provincial government and bureaucracy. It has been left to NGOs to help raise awareness about the right of citizens to know about government dealings. It should be noted that this is a basic constitutional right. Historically, our governments have done precious little to ensure that there is transparency in the way they work, and the present one in Punjab seems to be in no mood to alter this state of affairs. We need to see the RTI law in Punjab implemented effectively. Without empowering the information commission, that is not possible. The country is badly in need of greater transparency and openness. Without this, we will all sink into deeper trouble, with problems such as corruption and mismanagement, kept under wraps.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th,  2015.

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