Seminar speakers call for ensuring RTI laws implementation

PESHAWAR: Speakers at a seminar on Tuesday underlined the importance of the Right to Information (RTI) laws to ensure transparency in the working of the government departments.

They said that the RTI laws had become a symbol of a country’s commitment to good governance.“Good governance means that there are fair laws, rules and regulations which are enforced impartially. Countries with access to information laws are also believed to be less corrupt because these have the added tool with which they can demand information and thus make the government more transparent,” stated Syed Saadat Jahan, Deputy Director Communication, KP Information Commission (KPIC). He was addressing a session on RTI laws.

The session was arranged in collaboration with a non-governmental organization Youth Alliance for Peace and Development (YAPD) at Government Degree College, Ekkaghund, Mohamand.

The District Youth Officer along with other representatives of district administration, faculty members, and students participated in the session. In the session, students were provided with RTI application forms, and told about the procedure of filing RTI requests to government institutions.

Concluding the session, Saadat Jahan stated that the RTI Law had made it incumbent upon government departments to proactively disclose information of public importance in their websites.