Right to information is meaningless without information commissioners
The article argues that Bangladesh’s interim government must urgently reconstitute the Bangladesh RTI Commission to uphold its promise of transparent and accountable governance. The removal of previous commissioners has left the regulatory body inactive, rendering the Right to Information Act ineffective. Without this oversight, public officials face no consequences for ignoring information requests or misusing exemption clauses, which undermines citizen trust and allows potential abuses of authority to go unchecked. Restoring the commission is essential to ensure that citizens can effectively monitor public authorities and demand proactive data disclosure. When citizens are unable to seek redress for withheld information, the balance of power shifts toward opaque bureaucratic practices. Reactivating this mechanism not only resolves backlog grievances but also reinforces the rule of law, signaling that the new government is committed to the democratic ideals that brought it to power. This situation is highly relevant to open data because a functional RTI commission is the legal backbone of the open data ecosystem. It ensures that the theoretical right to access government information translates into practical accountability. For open data advocates, the commission’s presence is crucial for enforcing compliance, correcting misinterpretations of data exemptions, and ensuring that public interest information remains accessible, thereby enabling civil society to participate meaningfully in democratic oversight.
Source: thedailystar.netPublished on 2024-12-16
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