My right to information

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly passed the Right to Information (RTI) Act to ensure that citizens have access to public records. Under this act, all government departments are responsible for providing the requested information to the person making the request. I have requested the province’s Right to Information Commission (RTIC) to provide information on KP’s prisons department. However, their response has been both slow and misleading. One cannot understand why the relevant department took so long to reply to my request.

RTIC officials called me and I tried to explain the sensitivity of the issue to them, but they didn’t take the request seriously. On the other hand, officials from the prison department didn’t even acknowledge the fact that it is my legal and constitutional right to have access to public records. It is hoped that both organisations will realise that citizens have a right to access information.

Nasir Ud Din Bangash

Peshawar