Call to use RTI Law as a tool for social change

PESHAWAR: The speakers at a seminar on ‘Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act’ on Thursday urged the students and the educated people to use RTI Law as a tool for social change as it can benefit them against the injustice in the process of admissions and jobs selection process.

The seminar was jointly organised by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Commission (KPIC) and department of political science, Bacha Khan University Charsadda.Chief Information commissioner KPIC, Farah Hamid Khan, was the chief guest on the occasion, while vice-chancellor Prof Dr Bashir Ahmad was the guest of honour.

The seminar was also addressed by chairman of the department of political science Dr Asif Salim and Syed Saadat Jahan, assistant director communication, PKIC. A large number of faculty, staff and students of the university attended the seminar. Farah Hamid said the RTI law empowered the citizens with information to make the government accountable. “It is a key to good governance and a watchdog for the public office holders,” she said.

She said that KPIC was committed to ensuring implementation of RTI Law into each and every corner of the province. “I wish RTI a very common term for every common citizen and be benefited by this law,” she said. While talking about the role of Public Information Officer (PIO), she said that PIO has the key role in implementation of this law, and very soon a training session on RTI Law for the PIOs of public sector universities of the province will be arranged.

Speaking on the occasion, Syed Saadat Jahan, Assistant Director Communication, KPIC informed the participants about the procedure of lodging information requests in public bodies. Dr Bashir Ahmad lauded the KP-Information Commission for making remarkable contributions in improving governance through the right to information. He said that more such events should be arranged to create awareness among the masses about the law.