Right to information (RTI) is taken as an effective tool to curb corruption and irregularities in public agencies, thereby contributing to good governance. Transparency and citizen's access to public information are equally essential aspects of RTI.
The formulation of RTI Act, 2007 by the parliament- immediately after the historic people's movement-II, was regarded as a milestone in Nepal's initiative to reduce corruption, which had blighted public agencies and institutions.
The Act was further welcomed with quick arrangement of institutional mechanism, the National Information Commission (NIC), and it got huge cooperation and collaboration from civil society as well to forward RTI regime in the country.
However, since the introduction of such progressive law to the ongoing practices, the RTI stakeholders have expressed concern over lax implementation of some of the provisions in the law.
During a two-day National Conference on RTI, participants asserted that provision on proactive disclosure mandated by the RTI Act was grossly overlooked in the country.
In a session on the practices of proactive disclosure of RTI in Nepal and the challenges during the Conference held in the federal capital on September 28-29, the people from the relevant field argued that the practice of proactive disclosure had been overshadowed though it overall serves the core of the Act.
Facilitating the session, RTI activist and lawyer, Sanjib Ghimire, said during his brief survey of official websites of 22 ministries, it was found that only seven of them were updating the related information periodically. The RTI Act mandates the public offices to publish information of public concern every three months. As Ghimire said, the disclosure of information of public concern should be available and easily accessible, but this was significantly missing in the ministries' websites, because only two of them had ensured it.
Ghimire further argued once public disclosure of information is delayed and denied, it is sheer violation of citizen's right to information, while an ill effort to foment already ingrained cagey culture at public agencies.
People from the authorities concerned, including the representative from the NIC, Kathmandu District Administration, parliament, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology also admitted to the fact that the implementation of provision of proactive disclosure was not encouraging in Nepal though it has been already one and half decade since the enactment of the Act.
NIC Commissioners Kamala Oli Thapa and Ratna Prasad Mainali, President of Education, Health and Information Technology Committee under the House of Representatives, Bhanubhakta Joshi, Ministry's Spokesperson Joint Secretary Netra Prasad Subedi and Kathmandu's assistant chief district officer Rabindra Prasad Acharya cited factors, such as lack of public awareness, technical challenges, intentions, and others that had hindered the progressive enforcement of the RTI Act.
The two-day event was organized by the National Federation for RTI, coinciding with the International Day for Universal Access to Information, observed on September 28 every year.
Despite passage of such a long time since enactment of the Act, the three-tier governments have yet to prioritize its enforcement in their budgets, policies, programs, and actions, the speakers added. The Constitution (Article 27) guarantees citizens the right to demand and receive information on matters of public concern or personal interest from public agencies.
The Conference held under the theme, 'Demand Information: Eliminate Corruption' had aimed at creating an environment conducive to promoting wider practices of information sharing and strengthening the enforcement of RTI Act.
Participants in the Conference included RTI advocates, journalists, civil society representatives, legal practitioners, women, youth, students, and government information officers from across the country. They also shared experiences of hassles they faced while seeking information from public agencies, and how unaware the public agencies were to enforce the Act which is directly related to citizen's rights and empowerment.
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