Sir, the Senate of Pakistan other day adopted a bill ‘The Right to Access to Information 2017’ (RAI-2017) and forwarded it to the Lower House of Parliament for further reading and checking. The incumbent government of PML(N) has taken a credit of presenting it in the Senate and the ruling PML(N) materialised its pledged to bring a strong Right of Access to Information Law at the federal level that will replace, if passed in the lower house, the weaker Musharraf-era law known as Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002. Punjab and KP had already passed a supplementary legislation in connection to Article 19-A of the Constitution of 1973 which was inserted in result of 18th amendment in the Constitution during PPP coalition government. The act of replacement of Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 by the ruling PML(N) has seemed flawed as the government and other departments responsible for drafting it miserably failed to take all stakeholders on board for making it a better law for access to information. The draft bill is too weak and it has exempted all sort of important from the reach of the general public. For instance, the section 16 of proposed law under the head of ‘Information Exempt from Disclosure’ reads: “Any request of access to information would not be entertained if the disclosure to public is likely to cause damage to the interests of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in the conduct of international relations, result in the commission of an offence and harm probe into a particular case. By virtue of this particular section the federal departments may block and/or treat any information disclosure likely to cause damage to the interests of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Mr Editor the purpose of enacting and introducing such laws should be to give access to information to citizens so that the state and its departments perform their official works and tasks effectively and give access to the official documents to citizens. The scene of disclosure of information in Punjab is miserable as well. The Punjab Information Commission is not operating because the Commissioners got retired in April this year and until today no new appointments have been made by the Punjab government. The Punjab government pledge of open governance and transparency seems to be bleak. The KP Information Commission to extend is operational and it has laid down landmark orders against public bodies for disclosing information on citizens’ requests. Pakistan must now end its culture of secrecy and move in a direction where citizens should be given access to information. Since bloodied partition of Indo-Pak democracy in Pakistan had have no prevailed in true and real sense and this may be of secrecy culture. Giving access to information to citizens actually strengthens democracy and promotes air of transparency and merit which is a food of successful nation and state. The recent bill adopted by the Senate to some extend should be welcomed and all stakeholders must not label it a mere failure on part of the government. Laws evolve slowly and steadily. We must except too much from the Federal access to information law. SARMAD ALI Lahore Published in Daily Times, August 24th 2017.