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Published : 14 Jun 2014, 01:46 PM
Md Nazrul Islam, additional secretary to the Cabinet Division, accepted an activist's contention when she complained about “lack of trust” among the public about the Information Commission.
Islam was speaking at a discussion at bdnews24.com office on Saturday marking the five years of the Information Commission’s existence.
The bureaucrat said a lot of work needed to be done to ease the process of getting information and purge of non-cooperation from public servants.
Earlier, Khushi Kabir, who campaigned for the right to information, identified “lack of trust” among the public about the Information Commission and said she found reluctance among the people to seek information using right to information law.
The additional secretary said the government was working on making the public aware and removing procedural complications.
But he said “implementation is a big challenge in any new law”.
“More needs to be done for effective use of the Right to Information Act”.
He acknowledged that despite training there was a “gap” among information officers and sometimes, information was not “well organised”.
“It’ll take time. We are trying.”
He remarked several laws needed to be amended to make the right to information law “effective”.
Bangladesh’s first internet newspaper bdnews24.com and the Information Commission co-hosted the discussion on the five years of Information Commission. Kaspersky Lab supported the event.
bdnews24.com Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi moderated the discussion where commission officials, politicians, civil society members and citizens who have applied for information under the Act took part.
It was broadcast live on bdnews24.com and Ekattor TV.
The Right to Information Ordinance was passed under the military-backed caretaker regime in October 2008.
After the Awami League government took office, it passed the Right to Information Act on March 29, 2009. The commission was formed on July 1.
