Extension of RTI into newly merged districts hailed

PESHAWAR: Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), KP Information Commission (KPIC), Farah Hamid Khan on Tuesday termed extension of the RTI Act into the newly merged districts an excellent step that would lead to a big social change and political development in the right direction.

“The people of those areas have come on a par with the people of other parts of the province due to merger of the erstwhile federally and provincially administered tribal areas (FATA and PATA) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP),” she told the public information officers (PIOs) and heads of the line departments from Khyber district at a training on Right to Information Law here.

She stated that the RTI Law had helped to protect the public’s constitutional right to access information of public importance.

“The tribal areas were governed by a separate law known as Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) made by the British in 1901. This law has proved as the main obstacle in bringing FATA into the mainstream of Pakistan. Implementation of the RTI Law in letter and spirit would help establish a strong line of defence against malpractices in the line departments,” she added.

She said that proactive disclosure of information over the internet had made requesters’ lives easier. The CIC impressed upon the need for proper maintenance / indexation of public records and Proactive disclosure of information of public importance as required under Section 5 of the KPK RTI Act for ease in provision of data to the citizens.

“The KPIC is mandated to oversee the implementation of the law and urged the PIOs to promptly respond to the information requests of citizens,” she added. Farah Hamid said that the commission had planned to launch a comprehensive awareness campaign for the masses of the NMDs so as to raise their capacity to utilize the full advantages of the RTI Act.