Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP), a non-profit civil initiative working on consumer protection, governance and civil rights, has demanded that the government of NWFP must enact Freedom of Information (FOI) law to ensure transparency and citizens' access to information and records in the provincial departments.
In a press statement issued here on Thursday, Mukhtar Ahmed Ali, Executive Co-ordinator CRCP said, freedom of information was a pre-requisite for good governance and enabling citizens' to monitor government activity.
It is extremely important that the NWFP government enacts an FOI law to demonstrate that it is really committed to introduce maximum transparency in the government departments.
Explaining the state of freedom of information, he said that none of the four provinces has so far enacted FOI.
He, however, highlighted that the President of Pakistan had promulgated Freedom of Information Ordinance in October 2002.
Under this law, all citizens of Pakistan are entitled to obtain information from the Federal Government departments and agencies, although with a lot of exemptions.
The citizens, however, cannot obtain information held by the provincial departments under the Ordinance.
In order for the citizens to obtain information from provincial departments and agencies, there is a need for a provincial freedom of information law, he stressed.
Mukhtar Ahmad, while giving examples from the region and elsewhere, said that many states in India have already enacted and implemented freedom of information laws.
Internationally, about 50 countries have enacted FOI laws, which legally entitled citizens of these countries to have access to information and records held by the government departments.
Enactment of FOI laws in the provinces including the NWFP would be a significant step towards establishing transparent government, he said.
He stressed that freedom of information could substantially help in fighting corruption and inefficiencies, and would improve the quality of public service delivery, as it would equip citizens with necessary information.
An FOI law in the province is need of the hour in order to move away from the culture of secrecy, which is, perpetuated under certain colonial laws such as Official Secrets Act, 1923.
He appreciated that the NWFP government seemed marching towards more transparent and accountable government, and now, it was time for the legislators to demonstrate their commitment for a transparent government through enactment of an FOI law in the province, Mukhtar said.
Further highlighting the usefulness of the law, Mukhtar said that the CRCP had set an example of practically using Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 in respect of federal departments.
CRCP made information requests to more than 20 departments of the federal government under the FOI Ordinance 2002 and obtained information held by them, which was extremely important for public interest and could have remained held by the departments otherwise.
The citizens can access such useful information from provincial departments as well, if there is an FOI law in the province.
To this end, all stakeholder including the legislators, civil society groups, media and individual citizens need to proactively play their roles.