Daily Times: Salman Ali: Sukkur: Saturday, December 30, 2017.
Right to information’ is the term used for the right that citizens have to access information from the government. Its was a good step taken by the government of Sindh while passing RTI law on 13 March 2017, but implementing the law remains a huge challenge. I want to request that the government take steps for establishing the Sindh Information Commission as soon as possible as Commission should have been established within 100 days of the enactment of the law. Instead eight months have passed and this crucial step has not been taken.
Recently, a non-governmental organization Marvi Rural Development Organization-MRDO based in Sindh submitted an application to the Jail Authorities of Sukkur, Shiekharpur, Larkhana and Jacobabad under the RTI the regarding the number of women prisoners and juvenile prisoners in these jails as well as the number of convicted prisoners and prisoners under trial.
According to the RTI, the prison authorities were to answer MRDO within 15 working days. No response has been made yet, which is a sheer violation of the RTI as its clearly mentioned that refusing information with mala fide intention or providing misleading information could lead to a fine of up to 10 percent of the officer in question’s basic pay.
As a registered institution of Pakistan it is MRDO’s constitutional right to seek information, which nobody can deny. However, its also a discrimination of article 19 (a) which gives right to information to the citizens of Pakistan and it reads as “Every citizen shall have the right to have access to information in all matters of public importance subject to regulation and reasonable restrictions imposed by law.
.JPG)
.JPG)
