RTI law empowers people with info, says official

PESHAWAR: Commissioner Bannu Division Arshad Khan on Wednesday said that the law of the Right to Information Commission provides information to people about their resources and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was privileged to have enacted this law before all the other provinces.

He expressed these views while addressing a two-day training session on RTI Act in the Committee Room of Commissioner Bannu Division office here on Wednesday.

On the occasion, Commissioner Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Commission Riaz Khan Daudzai said that implementation of Right to Information Act 2013 gave every citizen the right to information to make the government and administration more responsible, which means good governance.

He said that until 2013, citizens in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did not have access to any information that was acted upon by any government agency and access to information of public interest was not easy for an ordinary person to access. He said the implementation of the RTI Act has improved the system of public institutions.

He urged the public information officers to respond to the RTI applications in a timely manner so as to facilitate the applicants.

Discussing the implications of the RTI Act, he said that the RTI Act empowered people against administrative corruption, irregularities and irresponsible behavior of the administrative machinery.

Commissioner Bannu Arshad Khan distributed certificates among the officers who completed the training.