ISLAMABAD: Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo on Tuesday said even if the Right to Information (RTI) bill was passed by parliament, the citizens will not be able to get access to information due to the lack of awareness about it.

Mr Bizenjo was speaking at the launch of “Comparative scorecard on RTI legislation and implementation at federal and provincial level” prepared by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) at a local hotel.

Mr Bizenjo, who belongs to the National Party which remained in power in Balochistan for two and a half years, said the RTI bill for Balochistan had been prepared but it could not be passed due to bureaucratic hurdles.

Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo says RTI has never been a priority of successive govts

“Unfortunately, there is a mindset which does not allow sharing of information. In the age of Google Earth, we still see billboards at Tarbela Dam warning that taking photograph is not allowed,” he said.

However, the major hurdle is the lack of awareness as even students are not aware of basic human rights, he added. On the other hand, RTI has not been in the priorities of successive governments who only focus on other issues. “Parliamentarians hardly discuss the RTI issue. Media also does not discuss it frequently,” he said.

However, MNA Nafeesa Khattak of the PTI said the federal government never disclosed information even on the floor of the parliament.

“Despite efforts, we could not get the price of LNG. Information is also not being shared with us about the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.”

She said ministries never come up with proper answers. “If we want to ask supplementary questions we are not allowed. The government does not allow us to do anything because it has a majority in the National Assembly,” she said.

MNA Saman Jafri of the MQM said clear information should be given to the citizens.

“Moreover, there should be a uniform law all over the country instead of different laws to ensure the availability of information,” she said.

The Pildat head, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, said sometimes parliamentarians become helpless but they should at least raise the issues because when they speak the whole country listen to them.

“In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, RTI laws have been passed so we expect that the other two provinces will also follow suit,” he said.

Journalist Hafiz Tahir Khalil said mediapersons cannot publish anything without permission from the media house owners.

“The RTI bill has been in the shelf of the government for two years and is not being passed,” he said.

Member Youth Parliament Advocate Ibrahim Khan told Dawn that though after the 18th Amendment it was the responsibility of all provinces to make RTI laws, some of them were reluctant.

“It seems there is no political will and coordination among different government departments,” he said.

According to the scorecard, KP’s Right to Information Act 2013 and Right to Information Commission (RTIC) secured the first place in the overall rankings with a score of 73pc.

Punjab’s Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013 and Punjab Information Commission (PIC) formed under it were ranked second with an overall score of 65pc. Balochistan’s Freedom of Information Act 2005 and the provincial government stood at third place in the overall rankings with a score of 29pc.

The Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 and the federal government were ranked fourth with an overall score of 26pc. Sindh’s Freedom of Information Act 2006 and the provincial government earned the lowest position in the overall rankings with a score of only 24pc.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2016