Editorial
Right to information
Deny it, deny good governance
International Right to Information Day passed off yesterday. It is a day of great significance and relevance to Bangladesh, especially in the prevailing status of various basic rights. It hardly needs emphasising that most of our socio-political and economic ills stem from the absence of this important right. One of the prerequisites of good governance is giving full cognisance to citizens' right to information. It is all the more crucial in a democratic system of governance where the lawmakers are elected through a direct and universal franchise. In fact, right to information is central to all other rights. Unless the right to access to information is guaranteed, other rights like freedom of speech and expression will be rendered infructuous. This right is non-existent in its holistic sense of the term in Bangladesh, and there is hardly any effort in sight on the part of those who govern the country to recognise and implement it in society. It is only natural that there would be plentiful misgivings all around because of the denial of access to vital information. In Bangladesh, the government is the largest repository of information since public sector development projects and programmes remain under its direct control. Huge sums of money are being allocated to often least important projects, which are spent by the public representatives who head various ministries. But common people are denied access to information concerning the method of tendering for procurement, evaluation of price quotations, terms and conditions of local/foreign loans or credits and overall expenditure. Such close door handling of matters involving millions of dollars breed suspicion in the minds of the citizens leading to deeper resentment against the people in power. We are aware of a draft bill titled 'Right to Information Act 2002' prepared by the Law Commission of Bangladesh that awaits enactment. Once passed with adequate features, the law would help the people of Bangladesh in exercising their right to remove various impediments to development and service delivery. In fact, grievances would be more easily redressed. We strongly urge the relevant authorities to enact the right to information law thereby making governance a transparent, easy and less hazardous task. It would be like letting in sunshine into the dark cells where vital information is being stored.
| 
