Right to information: ‘Info from govt must be used in public interest’

Workshop stresses that govt depts must place records on internet.

LAHORE:

There is a need to use the Right to Information (RTI) and Freedom of Information (FOI) laws to serve public interest, government representatives at a workshop said on Wednesday.

They were speaking at a one-day training workshop for government officials on RTI and FOI laws.

The workshop was organised by Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP).

Participants explained the procedure under the RTI Ordinance 2002 to use the RTI laws to obtain information from all government departments.

They said that most clauses of the FOI Ordinance 2002 had not been operationalised over the last nine years.

The law mandates public institutions to maintain and index their public records, upload them onto the internet and designate officials to process information requests received from the citizens.

Speakers said that there was a need to develop ‘procedural activism’ in order to implement the PTI and FOI laws.

The workshop was conducted by CRCP representative Alam Mudassir. Various officials from the FIA, the PTDC, the PID, the Wafaqi Mohatasib’s secretariat, the SNGPL, the SECP and the TDAP attended the workshop.

The workshop discussed how government can place more information in the public domain. The participants agreed on the need to expedite the process of placing all permissible official records for public access on official websites.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2012.