Access to information essential to make private, public sectors accountable

FE Team | Published: June 19, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

FE Report
Access to information and a free and independent media are prerequisite to ensuring transparency in the government, thereby contributing to the country's improved governance and development, speakers told a workshop.
They also underscored the need for transparency and accountability on the part of private sector and the non-profit world, often marked by the lack of openness.
The World Bank Institute (WBI), a sister concern of the World Bank, organised a two-day workshop on media and information environment that began Monday at a city hotel.
Speaking at the inaugural session, country director of the World Bank Xian Zhu said unhindered flow of information promotes transparency and contributes to the development of a country.
Roumeen Islam, a manager at the WBI, explained the objectives of the workshop, followed by four working sessions.
Chairing a working session, executive chairman of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) Hossain Zillur Rahman said while transparency in the government was crucial, one could not ignore the need for the same in the private sector, the non-government organisations and the donor community.
While presenting a paper in the session on transparency and development, Manzoor Hasan of BRAC University said the civil society of India was instrumental in exerting pressure on Delhi administration to pass the right to information into a law.
"We should put pressure on the government to enact the Right To Information Law so that the media can get access to the necessary information needed to make the general people aware of the public policy," he told a civil society audience.
In his speech, Iftekharuzzaman of Transparency International said although access to information is essential, it does not guarantee transparency in the public policy and services.
In another session, editor of the Bangladesh Today M Asafuddowla took a swipe at the WBI for organising such a workshop in Bangladesh, where the media could obtain information, notwithstanding an official secrecy act remained in operation.
"You should organise such workshops in Tel Aviv and Washington instead of Dhaka, because the United States did hide information about the Iraq war," the bureaucrat-turned editor said.
Speaking as a panelist, editor of New Age Nurul Kabir called upon the government to immediately enact the Right to Information law to free the local media industry from doing what he dubbed "illegal" as well as "unconstitutional" acts.
"We (journalists) obtain news from policymakers and bureaucrats in an illegal way, as they are legally barred from divulging information to the public and the media. The work we do is really illegal," Kabir told the session.
The workshop is being organised at a time when Bangladesh is working towards introducing a "Right to Information Law" to make sure the people, in general, and the media, in particular, have access to necessary public information.
If passed, the proposed law would revolutionise the way the country's media industry operates, while abolishing the age-old law that restricts the free flow of information.
Open and free flow of information help promote transparency and accountability, thus contributing towards good governance and improved public policy.
According to organisers, the workshop will highlight the role of right to information laws, and public disclosure and transparency for accountable and effective governance in Bangladesh.
It will also recognise the role of strengthened public information management for effective dissemination of information and develop an action plan for different stakeholders to contribute towards free and open flow of information in Bangladesh, they pointed out.