DAWN.com: PK: Monday, August 21, 2017.
Journalists
belonging to Khyber Agency on Saturday demanded extension of the Right to
Information (RTI) Act to tribal areas so as to enable local mediapersons to
have easy access to information.
The demand
came during a consultative dialogue organised by Internews at Jamrud Press
Club. The dialogue was attended by mediapersons and representatives of local
political administration and agriculture and health departments.
The participants
said that most of the time their stories were not carried by their respective
organisations as these were not balanced due to absence of official version on
a particular issue.
They said
that in most of the cases they relied on personal contacts with the government
officials as they were otherwise denied access to information in the absence of
a law.
They said
that with easy access to information the problems confronted by the residents
could be highlighted for their resolution. They said that as most of the
displaced families had now returned to their hometowns it was time that the
government departments shared plans for the rehabilitation of these families
alongside reconstruction activities.
The tribal
journalists urged the federal government to include the extension of RTI law to
Fata along with approval of the reforms plan for tribal areas.