Citizens are not familiar with the law of access to information, departments are also reluctant to give information

Lahore: It has been 10 years since the new Access to Information Act was passed in Punjab, but even today common citizens are not aware of this Act nor are they aware of the procedure for obtaining information from government and semi-government departments.

On the other hand, many government departments seem reluctant to provide information under the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act and use delaying tactics.

Saba Chaudhry, a young freelance journalist from Shakargarh Tehsil of Punjab, has so far sent 15 requests to various government departments under the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act, including Metropolitan Corporation, Revenue, Health and Local Government departments.

Saba Chaudhry told “Express News” that till now he has not received any response from any department except Deputy Commissioner Narowal while DC Narowal also provided information after applying to the Chief Information Commissioner.

However, Rashida Qureshi, a representative of the non-governmental organization “Search Forests”, which works for children’s rights, said that they mostly need information from the police and the labor department regarding violent and forced labor of children and from these departments whenever RTIA Data is requested through, it is found.

Under Access to Information in Pakistan, any citizen can request information in writing from any government department and for this, the citizen is not obliged to tell the government department the purpose of obtaining such information.

After making a written request for information, if the response is not received within 14 days, the citizen has to contact the concerned Information Commission.

Apart from journalists, lawyers and NGOs, ordinary citizens are not aware of this law and the method of obtaining information under it. They don’t know about it.

They said that they do not think that the attitude of our government institutions will give information to a common citizen. Similarly, Muhammad Azam Sajid, a young resident of Lahore, also thinks that the common man is not allowed to enter the government offices, who will give the information.

Section 15 of The Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2013 states that the commission can impose a fine of up to Rs 50,000 for not providing information to the Public Information Officer after giving him an opportunity to defend himself.

According to the documents obtained by The Express Tribune, the Punjab Information Commission has fined 22 government officials from August 2018 to July 2023, including the Irrigation Department, Board of Revenue, Punjab Higher Education Commission, Highway Department and Police, using the above powers. are

However, the important thing is that none of the government officials who were fined have paid the fine, Chairman PHEC was fined 50 thousand rupees on February 17, 2022, but he went to the Lahore High Court against it.

Similarly, Hafiz Muhammad Imran, sub-registrar of Dataganj Bakhsh Town, was fined 50 thousand rupees in 2021, he took an injunction from the court, while Chief Officer Metropolitan Corporation Sharqpur Imran Danish was fined 25 thousand rupees, but he also took an injunction from the court.

The three departments did not provide information, but 18 other officers provided information on being fined.

Syed Kausar Abbas, Executive Director of Non-Governmental Organization Sustainable Social Development (SSDO) says that for transparency in the departments of access to information and empowerment of citizens, officers of government departments should receive information under access to information laws. There is a need to make it mandatory to respond to requests in a timely manner.

SSDO sent 194 requests for information to heads of 4 departments (Police, Health, Education and District Administration) in 36 districts of the province to know the status of implementation of Access to Information Act in Punjab.

According to the report prepared on the basis of the responses to the said requests, only 20 requests were answered within 14 days while information on 16 requests was received after approaching the commission. Out of a total of 194 applications, only 36 applications received responses.

According to the report, the ratio of implementation of the Access to Information Act has been only 18%.

Punjab Information Commission’s Chief Information Commissioner Mehboob Qadir Shah while talking to “Express News” said that the performance of Punjab is much better than the Federation and other provinces.

He said that this law is another name for transparency, transparency and improvement is coming in the administrative and financial affairs of government institutions. Institutions funded by citizens’ taxes have been made accountable to the citizens. This law has been included in the Fundamental Rights Chapter of the Constitution. The pillar of journalism is established on Article 19, while citizens are given the right to access information under Article 19A.

Mehboob Kadirshah says that the commission has decided on more than 25,000 appeals since its establishment, while fines have been imposed on around 1,000 officers.

He said that from the year 2019 to the year 2022, 7349 requests were received against the non-disclosure of information to the Public Information Officer of various departments, out of which 7018 requests have been dealt with.

1455 applications were received in 2019, 1321 in 2020, 2124 in 2021 and all of them were accepted. In the year 2022, 2449 applications were received out of which 2118 were disposed while 31 applications are pending.

According to Mehboob Qadir Shah, Lahore Gymkhana Club refused to give information related to the club on the request of a citizen. Toshhari approached the Commission, on which information was taken from the Gymkhana Club.

He said that the gymkhana club is situated on 117 acres of land which pays only five thousand rupees per annum to the government. Similarly, the Punjab Police was ordered to provide the footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the police stations to the citizens on their request, while it was decided that all the education boards of the Punjab would provide the solved paper results of the candidates. Can open for the candidate after the announcement.

Syed Kutsir Abbas says that access to information laws are an effective tool to ensure transparency in all matters involving public money, but to empower the commissions established to implement these laws. Required.

He says that social organizations, journalists and organizations working for human rights should raise public awareness about these laws and their effectiveness.