STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Civil society members at a seminar yesterday urged the government to immediately form a new Information Commission through a transparent process.

They said most applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act are now being rejected at the lower levels due to the absence of commissioners.

“There may not be any other precedents of two major commissions remaining vacant for over a year -- the Human Rights Commission and the Information Commission,” said Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh.

He added that while the interim government had taken many positive steps, it set a bad example by failing to address this issue.

The seminar, titled “Right to Information Act: A Contextual Review”, was organised by the Right to Information Forum at a hotel in Dhaka, marking the International Day for Universal Access to Information.

Iftekharuzzaman said the RTI Act is a strong tool against corruption but has limitations.

“Section 7 of the act excludes certain institutions from its jurisdiction. There should instead be some clear benchmarks defining national interest,” he said.

He also called for the private sector and political parties to be brought under the act.

Badiul Alam Majumder, head of the Election Reform Commission, said political parties should be brought under the act for transparency.

If political parties are not transparent and democratic, the establishment of democracy in the country will remain a distant dream, he added.

He also said RTI played a vital role in uncovering irregularities in the 2018 national election by revealing centre-wise vote data.

“Only people’s participation in government can ensure good governance, and the RTI is the means to achieve that,” he said.

Speaking as chief guest, Mahmudul Hossain Khan, secretary to the Chief Adviser’s Office, said many government offices fail to follow standard citizen charter formats, making them difficult for ordinary people to understand.

He said citizens often spend entire days moving between offices because they do not know where to access information. “We must fix this. Many are working, but we have no clear idea who is monitoring or where the feedback is going,” he added.

He stressed the need for monitoring and research to ensure progress.

Susan Vize, head of office and country representative to Unesco Dhaka, said there should be clear guidelines on grounds for rejecting RTI applications.

She also suggested a citizen forum to review the commission’s decisions, as going to the High Court is beyond most people’s reach.

Presiding over the seminar, Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation, said the right to information is in a precarious state. “The commission has been ineffective and almost non-existent for the past one and a half years,” she said.

She added, “The government we overthrew had no accountability. We want a government that will guarantee citizens’ constitutional, fundamental, and information rights. The interim government had a responsibility to lay the foundation for such a system.”

In the keynote paper, Ruhi Naz, deputy director of Research Initiatives Bangladesh, said the RTI Act remains powerful on paper but underused in practice due to weak institutional independence, secrecy, and administrative barriers.

Ananya Raihan, chairperson of iSocial, said NGOs using public funds must also make their information accessible.

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