There seem to be differences in response depending on the authorities’ location.
The interim government should encourage all public officials to respond diligently to the citizens’ RTI requests.
We can learn from how other countries in this region benefit from the law.
There appears to be a shift in the attitude of many public authorities towards the RTI Act.
Delay in reconstituting the Information Commission is hindering transparency and accountability.
Public interest should be the yardstick when balancing citizens' right to information concerning governance and state need to safeguard sensitive information.
The success of the RTI Act anywhere in the world largely depends on the determination and commitment of the citizens to put it to practical use.
Two laws form the basis for citizens to affect governance.
To obtain the full potentials of the law, we must go beyond such perfunctory rituals and focus more on strategies to go ahead.
Sri Lanka has been shaken by a socioeconomic and political crisis that has drawn international attention.
As authoritarianism creeps in across the world, the ideals of participatory democracy and representative governance have taken a back seat once again in many countries.
Today, we turn away from the positive and encouraging side of the Right to Information movement in Bangladesh, depicted in our previous column (The Daily Star, April 16, 2022), to peer into the shadows.
Today, we present tales that have been gathered from ordinary Bangladeshis.
The Information Commission of Bangladesh delivered a much-awaited decision on March 8, 2022, and a much-needed shot in the arm of the right to information (RTI) regime in Bangladesh.
The title of our column today is inspired by an editorial in Prothom Alo, a popular Bangla national daily in Bangladesh, published on February 5, 2022.
Efforts to limit the ruler’s authority over the ruled is as old as human history. It is a subject that has occupied the minds of social thinkers and philosophers of all major civilisations since ancient times.
The importance of a robust Right to Information (RTI) regime for a healthy and vibrant democracy is universally recognised.
