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.
The RTI Act is a crucial tool for promoting transparency and accountability in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's RTI law is the best law to utilise in making a new Bangladesh where people's power reigns supreme in the true sense of the term.
The use of the RTI Act is not merely to focus on government work, but to operationalise good governance too.
The Indian Supreme Court's recent decision on electoral bonds underline the importance of citizens' role in exercising their right to information as watchdogs of good governance.
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.
There is a huge need for data in every aspect of human life, 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.
Unfortunately, citizens are yet to rise to the occasion and play a meaningful role to take the law forward. Demands for information are yet to pour into government offices in large numbers to test the system.
It would be unfair to compare the Bangladesh situation with the Indian experience (refer to Part I of this column published yesterday).
During the International Right to Information Week celebrations recently, a common question in people's mind was: Is the Right to Information Act 2009 (RTI) going in the right direction?
A common reaction of most people about the RTI Act is a lack of trust in its efficacy. It is this general lack of faith in the willingness of public officials to break away from the age-old culture of official secrecy...
What is encouraging to note is that this time the government has come forward to break the culture of secrecy. That's why the RTI law has a provision of pro-active disclosure.
