Expanding jurisdiction: Extension of RTI law to PATA urged

PESHAWAR:

The Centre for Governance and Public Accountability has urged the government to extend the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information (RTI) Act 2013 to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA). The law empowers citizens to access information held by provincial administrative bodies.

In a press release released on Saturday, its executive director, Muhammad Anwar, said depriving people of Pata of the RTI law was a violation of their basic constitutional rights. He added that peace and stability in the tribal areas could not be guaranteed without basic governance reforms.

Anwar said that Article 247 of the Constitution is undermining the representation of tribesmen by not allowing direct enforcement of laws in the tribal areas unless notified by the president. He urged parliamentarians to amend Article 247 so that all federal and provincial laws are applicable in these areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2014.