The Island.lk: Sri Lanka: Tuesday, 6Th January
2026.
The RTI Commission has now
confirmed what many suspected although the RTI Act grants it independence to
recruit staff, this authority is rendered toothless because the Treasury
controls the purse strings. The Commission is left operating with inadequate
manpower, limiting its institutional growth even as it struggles to meet rising
public demand for information.
This raises an uncomfortable question: if the Treasury can repeatedly allocate billions to loss-making State-Owned Enterprises some of which continue to hemorrhage public funds without reform why is adequate funding for the RTI Commission treated as optional?
Strengthening transparency is not a luxury. It is the foundation of good governance. Every rupee spent on effective oversight helps prevent many more rupees being wasted through inefficiency, misuse, or opaque decision-making.
In such a context, can one really fault those who argue that restricting the Commission’s resources conveniently limits disclosures that may prove politically inconvenient? Whether deliberate or not, the outcome is the same: weaker accountability, reduced public scrutiny, and a system where opacity is easier than openness.
If the government is serious about reform, it must start by funding the institutions that keep it honest. Investing in RTI is not an expense it is a safeguard for the public purse and the public trust.
This raises an uncomfortable question: if the Treasury can repeatedly allocate billions to loss-making State-Owned Enterprises some of which continue to hemorrhage public funds without reform why is adequate funding for the RTI Commission treated as optional?
Strengthening transparency is not a luxury. It is the foundation of good governance. Every rupee spent on effective oversight helps prevent many more rupees being wasted through inefficiency, misuse, or opaque decision-making.
In such a context, can one really fault those who argue that restricting the Commission’s resources conveniently limits disclosures that may prove politically inconvenient? Whether deliberate or not, the outcome is the same: weaker accountability, reduced public scrutiny, and a system where opacity is easier than openness.
If the government is serious about reform, it must start by funding the institutions that keep it honest. Investing in RTI is not an expense it is a safeguard for the public purse and the public trust.
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