Public access to information demanded

The speakers and participants in a seminar on "Freedom of Information in Pakistan: Where Do We Stand?" organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad on Monday urged the government to recognise public access to information as a right not charity.
They demanded of the government to seriously address lacunas in the Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 and Cabinet Division's Rules to ensure citizens' access to information and records held by different ministries and departments.
They said the government records must be made accessible in an easy, efficient and cost-effective manner, which would help citizens and civil society groups to objectively assess the performance of public bodies.
Implementation of rules regarding right to information is widely recognised as an effective anti-corruption tool world over they added
Member National Assembly, PPPP, Sherry Rehman stressed that no one alone could achieve the goal of transparency and accountability unless citizen groups, media, parliamentarians establish strong partnership.
She said that access to information was one of the basic rights of citizens, which helps them to strive for other rights and to hold government accountable. However, she demanded that military establishment records should not be exempted from public access. It is hard to conceive accountability mechanism in the absence of free flow of information.
Mukhtar Ahmad Ali of Centre for Development and Peace Initiatives (CPDI), Pakistan lamented that government departments in Pakistan have traditionally been practising colonial culture of secrecy. They rigorously apply rules such as Official Secrets Act 1923, which restrict public access to government records. According to him, this culture of secrecy is a main cause of weak accountability of public representatives and government officials. While talking about the Freedom of Information Ordinance, promulgated in October 2002, he said that it was the first legislation in Pakistan that recognised citizens right to information. Later, the Cabinet Division also notified the Rules in June 2004 in order to further streamline the procedures of obtaining public information.
Mukhtar, however, noted that both the Ordinance and Rules are highly restrictive and need to be amended to ensure that they comply with international norms and best practices. He was particularly critical of restrictive definition of information and records, unfair photocopying charges, a large number of exemptions, weak implementation mechanism, and higher fee for information requests. This, in his view, shows that, despite notification of rules and subsequent appointment of designated officials by over 32 ministries, citizens and civil society groups have not started using the law.
He demanded improvement of both the Ordinance and Rules in line with internationally recognised principles, which include (1) maximum disclosure, (2) narrowly defined exclusions or exemptions, (3) independent complaint-handling procedure, (4) whistle-blowers' protection, and (5) easy and cost effective access.
Earlier, a documentary "Accounts and Accountability" was screened during the seminar, which highlighted the role of community of Rajhistan (India) in exercising their right to information in Rajhistan after the promulgation of Freedom of Information Act in 2000.