Daily Times

“My dreams have the right to know why for years, they have been shattering with no hope of fulfillment. My hands have the right to know why for years, they have found no work (unemployment), and even today, remain idle. My hunger has a right to know why grains rot in warehouses while I struggle to feed myself.” These beautiful lines are from an Indian poem which is about using the right to information laws to address challenges faced by every common citizen.

Balochistan assembly repealed its outdated Balochistan Freedom of Information Act, 2005 with an effective Balochistan Right to Information Act, 2021, in February 2021. This was certainly a move in the right direction, aimed at improving transparency and accountability in the province.

Under the Act, all provincial public bodies are legally bound to provide the requested information within 15 working days. Section 18 of the Act stipulates that the Balochistan government shall establish an Information Commission by appointing four Information Commissioners within 120 days of the commencement of the Act.

This commission will be an independent statutory body, which shall be responsible for dealing with complaints, conducting hearings, issuing summons, organizing training of government officials and undertaking awareness-raising campaigns among citizens regarding the RTI law and its significance. Section 6 of the law binds the provincial government to designate and notify Public Information Officers (PIOs) in all its administrative departments and attached offices.

As owners of the information, the citizens can access the information whenever and wherever they want.

Despite the passage of more than three years, the Balochistan government has neither established the commission nor designated and notified the PIOs in provincial departments. These PIOs are supposed to be responsible for providing the requested information and in case of delay or denial, the Balochistan Information Commission has to decide these complaints.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Commission was established within a month after the enactment of the law, the Punjab Information Commission was established within four months, and the Sindh Information Commission was established within a year. However, Balochistan is the only province that adopted the effective law after all the other provinces and still lags in establishing its Information Commission.

Section 5 of the Act imposes a duty on public bodies to proactively disclose categories of information, and disseminate and publish, as widely as possible, information of public interest even before a disclosure request has been made. This is called proactive disclosure. Proactive disclosure of information includes Acts, Ordinances, rules, regulations, notifications, by-laws, functions, and duties of public bodies; a directory of the public officials and their perks and privileges; a budget including proposed and actual expenditures and contact details of PIOs. Unfortunately, in practice, most of the departments’ websites do not meet the proactive disclosure clause of the Act and basic information is not available on the website in such a digital era.

In the absence of the appellate body and designation of the PIOs, the Act is toothless and dysfunctional. Hence, the citizens’ right of access to information is denied. This is a violation of Article 19-A of the Constitution. The provincial departments do not share the requested information, and citizens are unable to lodge complaints in the absence of the Balochistan Information Commission (BIC). I have filed numerous information requests with provincial public bodies in Balochistan, but unfortunately, not a single public body has responded to these requests. The next step would be to lodge complaints before the Balochistan Information Commission, but that is yet to be established. While media reports indicate that interviews for appointing commissioners have taken place, the hiring timeline remains unclear.

It is important to mention here that all information in the custody of public bodies belongs to citizens and public officials are the custodians of the information. As owners of the information, the citizens can access the information whenever and wherever they want. The provincial bureaucracy of Balochistan seems reluctant to give citizens’ right to information to their owners due to a deep-rooted secrecy culture and a colonial mindset. Journalists and citizens are deprived of their basic right of access to information. A lack of political will, it seems, is the major challenge in enforcing this law.

The denial of access to information creates a trust deficit between citizens and the state. Secrecy also creates space for continued mismanagement, corruption, nepotism and embezzlement of public funds. Citizens’ participation in governance without adequate flow of information is not possible. The right to information intersects with all other rights that a state bestows on its citizens, like equality before the law, freedom of expression, right to representation, right to equal opportunities and consumer rights etc.

Civil society activists and media houses must keep exerting pressure on the provincial government to enforce the Act immediately by establishing the information commission and designation and notification of the PIOs. Political parties and elected representatives should also step up and fulfil their oversight role in ensuring citizens’ right to information. This is essential if we want transparency and accountability to prevail in the province.

The writer is a freelance columnist.