Seven young officers from the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) have invoked the Right to Information Act to request vital administrative details from the institution with, what they said, the aim of transparency within the civic body.
Sources said the information they are seeking encompasses eight key areas, such as audit reports related to vehicles allocated for officers, fuel expenses, recruitments, and financial outlays for deputation within the RDA.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Information Commission has taken action by issuing a notice to the Rawalpindi Development Authority Director General for not furnishing the requested information within the stipulated timeframe.
Read: RTI fails to deliver
The officers who have submitted the application include Waqar Ahmed, Ali Razay, Shaza Tanveer, Muhammad Shoaib, Muhammad Usman Bajwa, Mehwish Naseem, and Muhammad Dawood. In their joint application to the Punjab Information Commission, they stressed that every citizen has the right to access information about the workings of a government institution to uphold transparency, as prescribed by the Right to Information Act.
As per the Punjab Transparency Right to Information Act 2013, the requested information should be provided within 14 working days from the application submission. However, this information is currently unavailable on the Rawalpindi Development Authority's website, which requires improvement.
The information sought by these RDA officers also includes minutes of all past RDA meetings, audit reports on construction, and maintenance expenditures over the last five years.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2023.
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