Financial Express Bangladesh Dhaka ; September 24, 2010;
Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad on Thursday said the present government believes in free flow of information for democracy to flourish in the country.
"Freedom of the press is a precondition for democracy," he told a national seminar titled 'Right to Information Act: How to Move Forward' organized by Management and Resources Development Initiative (MRDI) in association with USAID PROGATI in a city hotel.
Chief Information Commissioner of Information Commission Muhammad Zamir, Chairman of Anti-Corruption Commission Ghulam Rahman, Information Secretary Dr Kalam Abdul Naser Chowdhury, US Ambassador to Bangladesh James F Moriarty, Convenor of RTI Forum and Executive Director of Manusher Jonno Foundation Shahin Anam and Executive Director of the MRDI Hasibur Rahman, among others, addressed the seminar.
Executive Director of D.net Dr Ananya Raihan presented the keynote paper at the seminar while Editor in-charge and CEO of Boishakhi Television Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul moderated it.
Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Dr Iftekharuzzaman and Barrister Tanjib-ul Alam took part as panel discussants.
Referring to firm commitment of the present government to RTI, Azad said, "We passed the RTI act in the first session of the Parliament as we want to ensure access to information."
"Journalists of both print and electronic media are working freely," he said adding, the RTI will help them to get access to information.
"Journalists of both print and electronic media are working freely," he said adding, the RTI will help them to get access to information.
The government has formed the Information Commission to implement the RTI effectively, he said.
The Minister said, "We will take necessary initiatives to strengthen the Information Commission so it could play an important role in implementing the RTI." Muhammad Zamir sought the cooperation of all to implement the RTI for ensuring access to information.
Referring to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the information commission and Access to Information (A2I) of Prime Minister's Office, he said the commission is working to implement the RTI through its limited resources.
Ghulam Rabbani said free of flow of information will help stop corruption and irregularities in society.
He said, "We should increase use of information technology for ensuring free flow of information."
The US ambassador said the United States of America is committed to supporting the government and the media of Bangladesh by helping to ensure both understanding and implementation of the RTI Act.
Over the past few months, USAID's PROGATI programme has conducted consultations nationwide on the implementation of the RTI Act, he added.
In his keynote presentation, Dr Ananya highlighted the the grassroots level opinions about the RTI.
People at the grassroots opined that the RTI will help ensure accountability of the government and it will help remove irregularities and corruption from the country, he added.
Other speakers said officials of both government and non- government organizations should change their attitude for providing information to the people.
They said people have to come out of the 'hiding culture' to ensure the right of access to information.
The speakers stressed the need for disseminating programme on RTI to make the people aware of it.
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