তথ্য অধিকার আইন

The Daily Star, Thursday December 15, 2022

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz

The global surge in the adoption of right to information (RTI) or freedom of information (FOI) laws since the fall of the Soviet Union and the breakup of Eastern Europe three decades ago appears to have died down. Once regarded as the democratic “rite of passage” for nations, the law’s use is in fast decline, and the main reason for that is the growing autocratisation of governance. The promise of the law – increased transparency in governance through independent access to government-held information, exposing corruption and maladministration and encouraging citizens to participate more fully in the political process – has failed to live up to expectations. Citizens increasingly fear that their RTI interventions in probing questionable government actions may land them in trouble. Read More..

The Daily Star, Tuesday November 15, 2022

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz

Syed Fazle Rabbi Dollar, a resident of Bogura, has been concerned about the harmful effect of the rampant use of nitric acid on the environment and its abuse by criminals. He has been particularly bothered by its uncontrolled use at more than 500 jewellery shops/workshops in his city. He learnt that 400 of these enterprises had no licence at all to use nitric acid in their workshops. And yet, all of them used it indiscriminately to dissolve solid metals such as gold, silver and bronze, causing health hazards and emitting foul smells. Nitric acid can lead to breathing problems and severe asthmatic attacks. The liquid discharge from the acid used in these workshops passes through drains to end up in the nearby Karatoa River, poisoning its water and killing fish and other living organisms.

To make things worse, as obtaining acid was relatively easy, acid-related crimes, including acid attacks on people, were on the rise. Efforts by the local community to draw the local administration’s attention towards the problem produced little result. So, an exasperated Fazle Rabbi finally decided to submit a Right to Information (RTI) request to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Bogura on July 31, 2022. He sought information on how many business entities/workshops were issued licences to use nitric acids, whose licences were renewed, and the number of those who had licences to sell and transport acids. And then he waited. Read More…

The Daily Star, Saturday October 15, 2022

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz

Bangladesh is in the throes of election fever, even though the next general elections are more than a year away. There is fear that the situation may become more tense and heated than the previous two elections. One way to cool down and professionalise the atmosphere would be to make the elections more issue-based. They should be contests in which political parties explain their respective positions on critical national issues to the voting public. One such issue is governance and the commitment of those seeking to govern the country. Read More..

The Daily Star, Thursday September 15, 2022

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz

September is the month for annual stocktaking of the Right to Information (RTI) regimes globally. The United Nations has designated September 28 as the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI). RTI enthusiasts all over the world use the occasion to bring focus on the revolutionary objectives of the law, discuss prospects and problems of implementation and identify strategies to overcome challenges encountered. Read More..