We have a right to know, says NGO Shehri
KARACHI: What Pakistan needs right now, as it battles the
after-effects of floods and as aid from foreign countries pours in, is
freedom of information, said a press release by Shehri-CBE on
Saturday.
The reason everyone, including aid agencies, foreign governments and
even the general public, is unwilling to give money through government
channels is because of a dire lack of transparency and poor
governance. According to Shehri, an effective tool for transparency is
freedom of information legislation.
Freedom of information legislation are rules that guarantee access to
data held by the state. They establish a legal process by which
requests may be made for government-held information, which should be
given to the public free of charge or at minimal cost, barring
standard exceptions
Democracy can only be effective if citizens are well-informed, for
only then can they participate favourably in a country's public realm.
Pakistan has promulgated the Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 at
a federal level. The law allows any citizen access to public records
held by a public body of the federal government, including ministries,
departments, boards, councils, courts and tribunals. The bodies have
to respond within 21 days.
Sindh also has a similar Freedom of Information Act, which was passed
in 2006. "We might have the laws but they are not effective," said
Shehri member Sameer Dodhy.
The NGO gave two examples in which they tried to invoke the
information law but were unable to get a positive response. In August
2009, Shehri asked Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) the
details of the buildings regularised under the Sindh Regulation and
Control (Use of Plots and Construction of Buildings) Ordinance, 2002.
According to the NGO, this legislation regularised illegally built
buildings in Karachi in exchange for a fee. This was to find out the
assessed value for regularisation of various buildings and the actual
payment received in the government coffers. However, there was no
response from the KBCA. Shehri waited for a reply and then wrote a
complaint to the Sindh Provincial Ombudsman Secretariat. Finally, the
KBCA sent a number of confusing replies without giving the actual
requested information.
Meanwhile, India has similar RTI (Right to Information) laws but in
its case, these laws are effective. The reason they have managed to
implement these rules is that they have a specific body to deal with
these laws and to redress complaints. Moreover, if a government
official is found guilty of delaying the process, he can be fined up
to Rs25,000. The fine comes from the personal salary of the official.
In the case of Sindh, the ombudsman can scarcely be looked upon as an
effective control on RTI laws. "The ombudsman has a hundred other
things to handle," explained Dodhy, adding that if the ombudsman's
reminders also yield no result the complainant can write to the
President of Pakistan. "But even at that level, officers are never
punished, a case can drag on and on and at a certain level it will
finally be dealt with by a civil servant. And the decisions made by
civil servants are usually not very citizen-friendly," said Dodhy.
When the information is benign, government departments sometimes do
reply. However when requested information is sensitive or there is
corruption involved, bureaucrats can delay and obfuscate for years.
This defeats the very purpose of the FOI law, said the press release.
According to the 18th Amendment Bill, after Article 19, the following
new article shall be inserted: "19A. Right to information: Every
citizen shall have the right to have access to information in all
matters of public importance subject to regulation and reasonable
restriction imposed by the law."
However, in Pakistan the reality on the ground remains different and
unless there is a total overhaul of the Freedom of Information Laws,
this legislation shall exist on paper but will not make a difference
to the citizens of Pakistan nor will it increase transparency,
concludes Shehri.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2010.
--
Urvashi Sharma
RTI Helpmail( Web Based )
aishwaryaj2010@gmail.com
Mobile Rti Helpline
8081898081 ( 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. )
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