তথ্য অধিকার আইন

The Daily Star, Sep 15, 2021

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz

The International Right to Know Day will be commemorated on September 28. By adopting Right to Information (RTI) or Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, governments recognise their citizens’ power to demand transparency and accountability about their work. Bangladesh enacted the Right to Information Act in 2009. How did that law fare last year?

It is difficult to provide a clear answer to the question. Research has shown that such a law does better in countries where an active coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) collaborate in its promotion. Such a coalition has yet to come together in Bangladesh. The CSOs engaged in promoting the law seem more inclined to work on their own, rather than to coordinate their efforts and share their experience and knowledge. As a result, the prospects and challenges of the law remain largely unknown, contributing to a lack of collective efforts to find remedial measures…Read More