Right to information: Call for new laws in Balochistan, Sindh

ISLAMABAD: 

The governments of Balochistan and Sindh need to strengthen their Right to Information (RTI) laws, similar to the reforms brought in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Punjab.

These views were expressed by participants at the concluding session of a two-day seminar titled ‘Strengthening Right to Information Laws in Sindh and Balochistan’, organised by the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) on Wednesday.

CPDI chief Amer Ejaz said the laws in Sindh and Balochistan have many structural faults and that these cannot be improved through amendments. Both governments should enact new laws and repeal the existing ones, Ejaz stressed.

Centre for Civic Education head Zafarullah Khan said the budget of information commissions and other regulatory bodies should be approved by Parliament as a charged expenditure.

Balochistan Ombudsman Wasay Tareen was of the view that a new RTI law for the province should be drafted on the lines of those in K-P and Punjab.

Punjab Chief Information Commissioner Mazhar Minhas said all political parties should agree to enact RTI for all federal bodies, as all parties played a role in the 18th Amendment.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8th, 2015.

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