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‘Govt officials reluctant to provide information’


Published : 26 Sep 2019 08:38 PM | Updated : 31 Aug 2020 05:05 AM

Many people become victims of harassment while trying to exercise their right to information as most of the government officials are not interested at all to provide information. Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Iftekharuzzaman made the observation on Thursday at a roundtable discussion on International Day for the Right to Information.

He observed that people are not being benefitted from the Right to Information Act (RTI Act), although it has been enacted to empower the people. Speakers at the roundtable said the civil society men are not being able to play their due role as media at present is exercising self-censorship that bars them to speak the truth through the media, depriving the people  of right to Information.

Appointing government officials in most commissions has made it difficult to get information. If the government officials do not cooperate in this regard, it will not be possible to implement this law, Dr. Iftekharuzzaman added. Professor Afsan Chowdhury put forward citing a research report that, "75 percent of the people in the country do not know about the Right to Information Act. While 25 percent of people know about this law, 20 percent of them do not have the right idea. So the right to information must be ensured for everyone. '

This researcher said, “Most people in our country think that there is no outcome by complaining about corruption. Because the people to whom the complaint is filed are corrupt themselves. That is why the public does not show much interest. Sujan editor Badiul Alam Majumder said, "The biggest obstacle to getting information is the information commission itself. People get harassed by this commission for information.”

Dr. Ananya Raihan, a founding member of DNET, said: “We are all involved in this way because of different interests, including civil society. We are afraid to open our mouths today because we cannot perform our civic duties. ' 89 per cent of the people in the country have accepted that bribery will not be available. And 75% of people feel that bribery is part of life because of complaints against bribery, with no result. And 60 percent of people's ideas do not reduce corruption from society by punishment.

This figure emerged in a study by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), an anti-corruption agency on the Right to Information Act. Speakers said recently in the country, information about casinos and major corruption is coming out in the media. From this, it appears that mega corruption does not happen without the help of political parties. Therefore, political parties need to be brought under the Right to Information Act.

According to the study, 75% of people in the country have no idea about the Right to Information Act. However, of the 25 people who know about the law, only 20 percent do not know how to apply the law. According to the research, people of the country think that politicians are not honest. Therefore, the people of the country felt that such a social movement against corruption was needed.