তথ্য অধিকার আইন

Daily Star, December 15, 2019
Engaging citizens to use the RTI law
Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz
Those who read this column regularly are aware of its two recurring themes. First, that the Right to Information (RTI) Act is important not simply because it enables citizens to obtain information from public authorities which they may “need to know” for personal reasons, but, more importantly, because it empowers them with a “right to access” information that sheds light on the way public offices perform their duties and spend public money. By resorting to RTI, citizens convey to public servants that they are keeping an eye on them. Read More.

Daily Star, December 15, 2019
Law needs RTI defenders
Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz
The global excitement about Right to Information (RTI) appears to be on the wane. Instead of facilitating citizens’ role to monitor public work by accessing official documents, governments are resorting to procedural and other hurdles to curtail the reach of the law. RTI enthusiasts and scholars who saw the law as an “impressive display of policy innovation at a global level”, now see it more as “democratic window dressing.” Secretive governance is striving to return. Read More.

Daily Star, November 15, 2019
RTI law: Bridging the gap between promise and practice
Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz
The euphoria accompanying the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War era late last century was followed by an upsurge of democracy in the new republics and a resurgence in nominal democracies. One manifestation of this was the global rush to adopt the Right to Information (RTI) or Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. Out of around 130 countries which have enacted the law so far, a large majority did so in the last three decades. Bangladesh adopted it in 2009. Read More.

Daily Star, October 15, 2019
The growing maturity of RTI use in Bangladesh
Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz
Last month, the International Right to Know Day was an occasion for the champions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Bangladesh to show how the law helps to strengthen democracy and advance good governance.
Unlike earlier years, the discussions and exchanges this year were more upbeat and hopeful about the future of the law in the country. Despite the hurdles citizens face to use the law, many have been motivated by the painstaking efforts of NGOs to do so to address and redress issues of public concern.

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