Right to information

In spite of its repeated commitments to a right of information act since its coming to power in 2001, all that the government has been able to do is to provide lip service to the agenda. It is difficult to characterise it as anything other than that, because more than four and a half years down the line, we are now caught in an absurd situation where the ministry of information seems unaware of the draft law that the law ministry is supposed to have forwarded to the former.

There are two impressions that one can form from the remarks of the ministers in this regard. One, that there might have been an attempt to hedge the issue; and two, that the issue has been trivialised by the attitude of those that are responsible to formulate the act.

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It hardly needs to be stated that such an act will go a long way in strengthening participatory democracy and curbing corruption through establishing transparency in the administration.

More than providing a powerful impetus to press freedom, the freedom of information act will go to enhance the freedom of the people as a whole. As we need air to survive so do we need free access to information to function freely and for democracy to thrive.

What such an act will also ensure, is the empowerment of the people by allowing them access to other civic rights, thus making them more effective citizens while, likewise, the association of the people with the development programmes in the rural as well as urban areas will be guaranteed. In other words, such an act will help establish the truth that to the people belong the state resources and it is they who can at any time call the government and its functionaries to account in all matters that involve the interest and security of the state. Most fundamentally, it will prevent government functionaries from hiding behind the excuse of the official secrets act and compel them to be more accountable and transparent in their working.

We would urge the government to prepare a draft right to information bill and circulate it for public debate and discourse before placing it on the table of the House.