তথ্য অধিকার আইন

The Daily Star, June 15, 2021

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz

“We see all governments as obscure and invisible,” said Sir Francis Bacon, English philosopher and statesman, in 1605. Governments should work behind the scenes, beyond public view, he felt. And this is how the British Government worked till the dawn of the 21st century, when Britain’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was adopted in 2000.

The UK was late to the party, with other western nations having forged ahead with the adoption of FOIAs (Sweden as early as 1766). The US came two centuries later in 1966 and scores of other countries adopted theirs since then, until it became embarrassing for the UK not to follow suit. Political parties extolled the virtues of freedom of information while in opposition, but did little to advance it when in power. Government and the bureaucracy found it hard to abandon…Read More