Editorial
Citizens' right to information
Real test will be in implementation of law
A fundamental underpinning of a democratic order is the right of citizens to come by information they need. The good news, therefore, is that such a long-felt need for information, indeed for provisions to be there to help people acquire such information, looks about to be met in Bangladesh. With the head of the caretaker government having already committed his administration to preparing and presenting a right to information act to the country, the course is now clear for us to take the matter to fruition.
A meaningful addition has been made into this whole issue of the right to information through the plan of the authorities to have every registered organisation in the country legally and morally guarantee the provision of information to citizens who seek such information. That is as it should be, for in a pluralistic system it is a given that the privileges citizens need and demand must be provided to them to their satisfaction. In other words, the right to information is now not merely a matter that enjoins upon the government a responsibility to give citizens the information they need but has at the same time taken on a wider area whereby every organisation registered under the law of the land will be bound to respond to questions from the public. And that is particularly significant, seeing that till now such laws as the Official Secrets Act have regularly come in the way of a transparent working of the administrative system and implementation of development plans in Bangladesh. Such hindrances to public inquiries have also been observed in areas like medical treatment and the working of NGOs. Citizens with genuine concerns about their welfare or that of people close to them have till now remained outside the bounds of openness where a provision of information relating to their cases is concerned.
We quite agree with the suggestion that people aggrieved by the reluctance of organisations to provide them with the information they seek can appeal to the heads of those organisations for redress. But let there be a caveat here, which is that bureaucratic complications should not come into the procedure. We do not expect piles of unanswered queries to sink the entire purpose of the right to information law; and because we do not, we think it will be worthwhile putting in place a mechanism for a citizen to be speedily supplied with the information he seeks. Even as right to information becomes part of governance, measures must be there to ensure that such a law is not misused or abused. With provisions for stakeholders to be consulted on the law, matters look encouraging. Let all that be given more substance by the draft of the proposed right to information act being put on the website, in order for public opinion to be elicited on its various aspects, within a time-bound frame.
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