The number of complaints of not getting information from concerned offices is increasing at the Information Commission.
After being denied information, people are going to Information Commission for remedy as their right to get information was established through the enactment of the Right to Information Act in 2009.
To handle the issues and increase public awareness, the Information Commission has undertaken a plan to train 29,220 officers at the upazila level from July 2015 to June 2017, Information Commissioner Nepal Chandra Sarkar told BSS.
He said the plan includes giving training to 60 officials from each of 487 upazilas. Officials from all upazilas of Tangail, Gopalganj, Sherpur, Magura and Bhola have already been trained under this programme.
Commission’s annual report of 2014 says 16,101 officials were trained from 2010 to 2014.
Commission officials told BSS that the rate of accepting complaints increased to 71.42 per cent in 2015 from 57.82 per cent in 2014.
Officials said the commission received 1,210 complaints from the common people from 2010 to 1016. Of which, 1,146 complaints were settled.
Former Information Commissioner and Dhaka University Social Science Professor Dr. Sadeka Halim told BSS that the application of Right to Information has started playing a role to reduce corruption in society.
But more work is needed in this regard, she said, adding that law should be made comprehensible to the common people. Former Commissioner Mohammad Faruq said the curtain between the people and government and non-government offices started lifting since the enforcement of Right to Information Act in 2009.
It has established the people’s right to get information, he added.
Talking to BSS, Non-government organization Management and Resources Development Initiative Executive Director Hasibur Rahman Mukul said the government has got prepared to provide the people with information after following enactment of Right to Information Act.
In line with this, the government has made policy of free information for the ministries, he said and termed it ‘very positive.’
