KARACHI: Sindh Assembly unanimously passed the Transparency and Right to Information Bill 2016 on Monday paving the way for the formation of Sindh Information Commission within 100 days after becoming law.
The Sindh Information Commission will have the authority to independently manage its operational and management affairs and its headquarters will be in Karachi with district headquarters across the province.
The new law of Transparency and Right to Information 2016 will empower citizens to seek details from government offices, a step towards ending corruption and improving governance.
The assembly session also formed a Coordination Committee to Monitor and the Implementation for K-Electric Issues comprising members of all parliamentary groups of the house.
The assembly session started with Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani in the chair. The select committee presented its report on Transparency and Right to Information 2016 Bill in the assembly and provincial minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro read out the bill section wise which was passed by the house unanimously.
Provincial Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro termed the move historic for all lawmakers of the Sindh Assembly. After passing of this bill, it provides easy excess to information; help good governance and eradicating corruption from the province. All those government officers who failed to provide information during a certain time period would face a penalty and imprisonment under the new law of Transparency and Right to Information 2016 after it is signed by the Sindh Governor.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said the Sindh assembly has taken a historic step towards transparency and access to information. Few weeks ago, this house had formed a select committee. The committee regularly held its meetings and examines laws of other provinces of a similar nature.
The provincial government has been accused of corruption, bad governance and violation of rules and regulations but after passing this law it provides common citizens of their right to excess the information legally. The law aims at making the provincial government and its departments answerable and it has public importance. Commenting on the bill, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) lawmaker Sardar Ahmed said that it is an important law and residents of Sindh have the right to get information of any government department without any hurdle. All parliamentary groups of the house have worked very hard for the formation and final draft of the bill and it is laudable that the chairman of Select Committee who is also a senior minister of parliamentary affairs included every positive proposal in the bill.
Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Samar Ali Khan also appreciated the new law after it was passed by the house. The house session formed a Co-ordination Committee to Monitor and Implementation for K-Electric Issues comprising members of all parliamentary groups of the assembly including Pakistan Peoples Party’s lawmakers Javed Nagori, Shahana Baloch and Sajid Jokhio, MQM-P lawmakers Saifuddin Khalid, Nishat Zia, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) Muhammad Shaharyar Khan Mahar, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Sorath Thebo and PTI Khurram Sher Zaman.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro informed the speaker Agha Siraj Durrani that few days back a lawmaker had informed the house regarding increasing consumer complaints against K-Electric and it is charging amount of peak hours in non-peak hours in bills and seriously violating NEPRA sanctioned unit tariff. Most of the people residing in Kachi Abadies of the city and their financial condition can not allow them to pay such excess bills.
Nisar Khuhro further said that if committees formed to check and visit schools, hospitals and jails then why not all those utilities could be monitored and checked properly which were providing their services to the residents of the city.
The elected representatives of Sindh assembly have the privileges and authority to check the consumers’ complaints against K-Electric and have the right to question the performance of power utility. In this connection, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Khuhro with the permission of the chair speaker Agha Siraj Durrani moved a resolution for the head of Parliamentary Committee that was later passed unanimously.
Nisar Khuhro said that rules and regulations will be finalized after consulting the speaker.
The speaker Agha Siraj Durrani has adjourned the session for indefinite period and read out the written order of Governor Sindh.