The RTI law has been kept alive over the years largely through the efforts of a few dedicated NGOs and die-hard RTI activists.
In the last few months, we have received some very encouraging feedback from users of the RTI law about the Information Commission's work.
Through the RTI Commission of Sri Lanka, citizens could weight in on matters impacting the nation.
To obtain the full potentials of the law, we must go beyond such perfunctory rituals and focus more on strategies to go ahead.
Over the last two decades, most of South Asia has adopted right to information (RTI) laws, also known as freedom of information (FOI) or access to information (A2I) laws.
There is a huge need for data in every aspect of human life today – from personal life to business, social, scientific, economic, and public policy and decision-making processes.
In recent weeks, two important government ministers—Law Minister Mr Anisul Huq, and Information Minister Mr Hasan Mahmud—have given vocal support to a fuller implementation of our national Right to Information (RTI) Act.
This beautiful rhyme by poet Jotindra Mohan Bagchi famously captures the Bengali sentiment for bokul phul, a very small sweet-smelling white flower.
NGO experience shows that many RTI applications from marginalised communities do not get recorded as those who obtain benefits by simply using the law do not care about receiving a formal response. Officials concerned also do not wish to record applications and may even avoid reporting them to concerned offices, as they often resort to irregular practices to dispose them off.
The RTI law has been kept alive over the years largely through the efforts of a few dedicated NGOs and die-hard RTI activists.
In the last few months, we have received some very encouraging feedback from users of the RTI law about the Information Commission's work.
Through the RTI Commission of Sri Lanka, citizens could weight in on matters impacting the nation.
To obtain the full potentials of the law, we must go beyond such perfunctory rituals and focus more on strategies to go ahead.
Over the last two decades, most of South Asia has adopted right to information (RTI) laws, also known as freedom of information (FOI) or access to information (A2I) laws.
There is a huge need for data in every aspect of human life today – from personal life to business, social, scientific, economic, and public policy and decision-making processes.
In recent weeks, two important government ministers—Law Minister Mr Anisul Huq, and Information Minister Mr Hasan Mahmud—have given vocal support to a fuller implementation of our national Right to Information (RTI) Act.
This beautiful rhyme by poet Jotindra Mohan Bagchi famously captures the Bengali sentiment for bokul phul, a very small sweet-smelling white flower.
NGO experience shows that many RTI applications from marginalised communities do not get recorded as those who obtain benefits by simply using the law do not care about receiving a formal response. Officials concerned also do not wish to record applications and may even avoid reporting them to concerned offices, as they often resort to irregular practices to dispose them off.
Unfortunately, so far, our performance on both transparency as well as accountability has not been very good. Fortunately, there is still time to improve this before the major climate change funds begin to flow.