Golam Mostafa Jibon:

Right to Information (RTI) Act-2009 has reached on the verge of losing its existence. The activities of the Information Commission have come to a standstill as a new commission has not been formed.

Nearly 700 complaints are awaiting settlement due to lack of hearing for a long time.

Meanwhile, the information seekers are being disappointed day by day as they are not getting any remedy despite filing complaints. They are being deprived of the benefits of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

On the contrary, unscrupulous officials of various government departments are taking advantage of the passive role of the Commission. Many of them are getting away with corruption and irregularities by not providing information. Media workers are the ones who suffer the most. Most of the time, they do not get information verbally. On the other hand, no work is done even after applying under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, because the Commission has not taken any action for a long time. The officials concerned do not even want to talk to media workers in this regard. They are avoiding it a lot.

This situation has been started even before August 5, 2024. It is alleged that, none of the complaints submitted to the commission after August 5 have been heard till date. As a result, information seekers are in trouble.

It is believed that, the activities of this department may regain momentum only if new commission is formed.

It is worth noting that, the main objective of the Right to Information Act, 2009 (including 2019 or other amendments) is to ensure the free flow of information from government, autonomous, statutory and government-funded private institutions [1, 7]. If it is implemented properly, the right of the people to access information will be ensured, transparency and accountability in administration will increase, corruption will be reduced and good governance will be established [1, 3, 7].

The main objectives of the Right to Information Act are detailed below:

• Ensuring free flow of information: Ensuring the right of citizens to access necessary information, so that their freedom of thought, conscience and speech is established [1, 13].
• Enhancing transparency and accountability: Ensuring transparency in the work of government and semi-government institutions and ensuring the accountability of the authorities to the people [3, 7].
• Reducing corruption and establishing good governance: Access to information increases the transparency of the administration, which helps in establishing good governance by reducing the opportunities for corruption [7, 11].
• Citizen empowerment: Strengthening the decision-making process by increasing the ability of the people to know accurate information [11].
• Strengthening the democratic process: A free and transparent information system strengthens democratic values ​​and increases people’s participation in the governance of the state [3, 11].
• Ensuring constitutional rights: Ensuring the freedom of speech and the right to information of the citizens as per Article 39 of the Constitution of Bangladesh [1, 13].

Essentially, this law changes the mindset of government institutions to hide information and creates an obligation to provide information. [6] However, currently, due to the inaction in the activities of the Information Commission, information seekers are being deprived of their right to receive information.

Liton Kumar Pramanik, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Information Commission (Publicity and Publication/Additional Responsibilities), said, “About 15-20 days ago, I came to know about 670 complaints. Currently, the number has increased further. The complaints are not being resolved as they are not being heard. As a result, information seekers are being deprived of their right to get real services and information. Hopefully, the activities will resume once the new commission is formed. But, when the commission will be formed, it is unknown, he added.

When an attempt was made to contact Information Commission Secretary Md. Yasin over the phone to talk about this, he did not pick up the phone.

The aggrieved information seekers have urged the concerned authorities to form a new information commission immediately and resolve the complaints of the information seekers quickly.