Info Commission not truly independent: TIB

The government must provide its best support to the Information Commission to make it truly independent, Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said. "The commission is yet to get government fund as per its requisition. But, it is not fully independent as it has to depend on the government for its staff recruitment," he told the UNB Saturday. He said it was a good initiative to form the Information Commission to ensure people's rights to information. "We need to keep in mind that this is a new field. Our commission is better than the ones in many other countries," he added. Dr Iftekharuzzaman, also a member of the Right to Information (RTI) forum, said the commission is not capable enough to ensure the free flow of information for lack of technically skilled manpower and logistic support. "The commission has to be strengthened both technically and logistically to effectively run it," he said. About the Right to Information Act, 2009, the TIB executive director said the act was passed so that the common people get benefits from it. "But, we couldn't make people aware about the law to get benefit from it," he said. On enforcement of the law, the TIB boss said there is a big problem in implementing it. "The information seekers face hindrance in getting information as officials in most cases are unwilling to provide information in the name of the Official Secretes Act." He suggested establishing the 'culture of transparency' in the country, which will help implement the law and remove corruption. During a recent survey, 66 per cent information providers said that the Information Commission is not a strong organisation while only 19 per cent said that it is an effective body and 14 per cent did not make any comment. RTI forum with support from Man usher Janyo Foundation and TIB conducted the survey in six districts -- Dhaka, Rangpur, Cox's Bazar, Bhola, Khulna and Jessore -- during May in the current year.