Institutions funded by Punjab govt claim immunity from RTI law

ISLAMABAD: A number of government-funded institutions are claiming immunity from the Punjab’s Right to Information (RTI) law to avoid public scrutiny and calls for more transparency.

The Punjab Information Commission has received at least four such cases where the institutions claimed that they are not public bodies and do not fall under the purview of Punjab Transparency and Right to Information (RTI) Act 2013.

These institutions include the Punjab Bank, Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank Limited (PPCBL), Kinnaird College for Women and Quaid-e-Azam Divisional Public College, Gujranwala.

However, the commission has ruled that any institution or non-governmental organisation that receives substantial government funding is a public body falling under the RTI law.

In the case of Punjab Bank, the majority government shares makes it a public body, a fact that has been admitted by the bank’s management in a recent hearing of commission.

The commission also ruled the PPCBL as a public body as it took Rs8 billion government loan which was later converted to 78 percent shares as the bank failed to pay back the amount.

The case of Kinnaird College is still pending with the commission as it has sought information about any government aid or funding for the college in the past or present. The college management claims that it is a private institution registered under the Society’s Act, so it is exempted from the RTI law.

In its order last week, the commission also declared the Quaid-e-Azam Public College, Gujranwala, as a public body as it is built on 482 kanals of prime government land besides receiving Rs30 million funding from the government.

During a recent hearing of the case, the principal of the college admitted that it was built on land obtained from the Government of Punjab on lease basis. He further admitted that, on two occasions, the college had received grants from the Government of Punjab of Rs25 million (2004-2005) and Rs5 million (2005-2006). He, however, denied that the college receives any budgetary support from the government on regular basis. He also emphasised that the college is managed by the Quaid-e-Azam Divisional Educational Trust, Gujranwala, which meets the expenditures of the college through the fee paid by students and private donations.

The college pays only Rs45,240 as annual rent to the government for the land which is far below the market rates which runs into millions considering its location on the main Grand Trunk (GT) Road. The composition of the Board of Trustees of the College suggests that seven out of its nine trustees are government officers, whereas the commissioner, Gujranwala Division, serves as the chairman of the Board. Similarly, 10 out of 13 members of the Board of Governors are government officers.

When contacted by ‘The News’, Punjab Information Commissioner Mukhtar Ahmad Ali said the commission has to determine whether an institution is a public body or not as the law is only applicable on public bodies.

“We received four such cases of exemption. In my view the institutions do not want to be declared public bodies to avoid public scrutiny and additional workload,” he said.

However, Mukhtar Ahmad said it is the right of institutions to know whether they are public bodies.