"We could have progressed much in the question of the right to information if there was a printed report of all small and big government agencies starting from Union Parishad (UP)," he said, addressing as the chief guest a daylong seminar on the right to information in Bangladesh yesterday.

"So, I will take an initiative to make a law binding all the government agencies to generate their annual reports," he committed when a group of civil society members, NGO activists, journalists and academicians pressed the minister that general people are kept in the dark about the sources of income and expenditure of government machinery.

Manusher Jonno, a nonprofit organisation, organised the seminar at the Brac Centre conference room.

The speakers urged a law binding government and private organisations to share information about finances generated during their activities.

Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Information Ebadur Rahman Chowdhury, Information Secretary Mahbubur Rahman, advocate Shahdeen Malik, economist Atiur Rahman, advocate Hameeda Hossain, advocate Salma Ali, Elina Khan, Editor of The Daily Star Mahfuz Anam, General Secretary of Jatiya Press Club Shawkat Mahmud, Zarina Rahman Khan of Dhaka University, team leader of Manusher Jonno Shaheen Anam, Sanjeeb Drong, Quamrul Hasan Monju, and journalist Mahfuzullah, took part in the discussion.

Renowned economist Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya moderated the seminar.

The law minister observed that, except security related issues, all information should be open to the public. "To establish the right to information it would have to be taken as a movement," he said.

Ahmed said the right to information is a basic human right of the people and is not only for newspapers Rather it is necessary for overall development of the country.

He added that the flow of information would have to be institutionalised in the country so that information is automatically disseminated.

The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam said freedom of information is necessary for bringing transparency in the government activities and strengthening democracy in the country.

"If a government official knows that his all activities would be made public, he would avoid corruption and partisanship," Anam said, adding that freedom of information is also necessary for the government to know how and where its money was spent.

Economist Atiur Rahman suggested the formation of a civil society platform to establish the people's right to information, which is necessary for saving the lives of the people.

He observed that many countries have already enacted a law ensuring the right to information of the people. But Bangladesh is much behind in this regard.

Shawkat Mahmud said, "There are many barriers in our country in the context of free flow of information. The mindset of the government officials should be changed in this regard."