Govt departments fail to sensitize PIOs about legal requirements of right to information under RTI law

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The ministries and departments have failed to impart training to PIOs and sensitize them about the legal requirements of the right to information under the RTI law, stated a study report released by CPDI, a non-governmental organization based in Islamabad, on Friday.

The report further mentioned that none of the selected ministries or departments has developed any plan for RTI implementation and only a couple of ministries have placed the guidelines prepared by the Information Commission on their websites.

Most of the ministries selected for this study develop yearbooks, but no department has included the figures about the RTI requests in the yearbook or has published any separate report for RTI implementation in their ministry or department, the study reported.

PIC Chief Information Commissioner Muhammad Azam said that PIC is facing serious challenges to implement the Act. These challenges include administrative, procedural and legal challenges since its establishment in November 2018, the PIC chief commissioner added.

Inspite of these challenges the Commission got more than 260 PIOs nominated in different federal ministries and departments, more than 578 orders have been issued and with the limited resources PIC extended an awareness campaign throughout Pakistan in each press club, he informed the participants of the event.

C-GPA ED Anwar Yousafzai identified the gaps in the implementation of the KP RTI Act and Chief Information Commissioner Farah Hamid ensured implementation of the KP RTI Act with letter and spirit.

KP Information Commission will continue advocacy and awareness campaigns with the collaboration of civil society organizations to promote the use of RTI laws, Farah Hamid maintained.

The awareness campaign and capacity-building workshops are extending to FATA and PATA regions as well since the merger of these regions in KP.

Proactive disclosure of information through websites in the digital age can decrease the burden of Information Commissions in terms of access to information, said MPA Naeema Kishwar.

She said awareness for the masses is crucial in the use of citizens’ access to information and the procedures for obtaining information should be simple and easy.

MPA from Punjab Assembly Kanwal Pervaiz said RTI is a tool for transparency but the designation of Public Information Officer (s) PIOs in the department is important to implement the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2013 as various departments are working without the nomination of PIOs. She offered to raise her voice in the Punjab Assembly for effective implementation of Punjab RTI law.

The state should disclose information about their actions and steps proactively. Resultantly the respect of departments can be increased, added Senator Taj Haider.

CPDI ED Mukhtar Ahmad Ali said that the essence of RTI revolves around online/offline proactive disclosure of information by government departments. He appreciated that RTI laws have been enacted in provinces and federal level whereas implementation remains a question especially in Sindh and Balochistan.

He encouraged citizens to use their fundamental right to know to promote transparency, accountability and inclusiveness of citizens.

The event was organized by CPDI in collaboration with PIC on “Right to Information: Implementation Status, Achievements and Challenges”.

The purpose of the dialogue was to share findings of RTI assessment report and generate informed debate among stakeholders about the challenges and hurdles posed in the implementation of RTI laws in Pakistan.