State bodies should be transparent: Vice President

Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun has said that the state bodies should be transparent and accountable to the people for the economic development and prosperity of the country.

Speaking at a program organized here today on the occasion of the 15th founding day of the National Information Commission, he said that the state and the people would benefit only if the right to information is effectively implemented.

Vice President Pun said, "Prosperity including good governance, good governance or economic development as we want can be achieved only through the light of information." Stating that the right to information is very important for good governance, democracy and prosperity of the nation, he said that good governance and good governance is maintained in a state where citizens get easy information about the work of state and public bodies.

 "Unless the state informs the people or the people receive information from the state, both the state and the people remain in the dark," he said. Stating that Article 27 of the constitution provides for the right of every citizen to seek and receive information on any matter of their own or public interest, Vice President Pun said that good governance prevails in the nation which provides information to the people.

 Stating that the public should be informed in a democracy, he stressed on the need for the state to provide information about public importance and to be responsible and transparent towards democracy and the people. "There can be no one more powerful in a democracy than the people," he said. Vice President Pun said that the access of citizens to information of public importance in various state bodies has not been made simple and easy yet.

 Stating that there has been some hopeful achievement in the last few years on the issue of right to information, he said that journalists in particular have been using the right to information to bring out the hidden information and inform the public.

Chief Information Commissioner of the Commission, Mahendra Man Gurung, informed that action has been taken on all the 753 appeals registered with the Commission out of the major works compiled in the fiscal year 2020/2021.

On the occasion, the Commission has given 'Vinay Kasaju Best Entrepreneur Award-2079' to Information Engineers Umeed Prasad Wagchand, Durga Acharya, Kailash Majhi and Manoj Rauniyar. Similarly, employees (information officers) working in various government offices; Nirmala Lama, Durga Prasad Sharma, Raju Acharya, Satya Narayan Hujdar and Gokarna Raj Wagle have been awarded 'Outstanding Information Officer Award-2079'. Similarly, the Commission has also given the Outstanding Staff Award to the Deputy Secretary of the Commission, Bishwavandhu Poudel, Branch Officer Dilliram Bhatt and Deputy Subba Hemant Rijal. The prize money is Rs 35,000 each.