PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information (RTI) Commission conducted inspection of public record in various departments of the University of Peshawar (UoP) to ensure citizens right to access public information here on Friday.

A statement issued here said that at least 12 pending complaints against various departments of UoP, including Journalism and Mass Communication, Environmental Sciences, Sports Directorate, Registrar’s Office, Treasurer’s Office and Administration Office, were decided on the spot by providing all relevant information to the complainants who were also summoned for the proceedings at the varsity’s Convocation Hall.

The inspection of record was carried out by information commissioner Iftikhar Hussain Khan who ordered the public information officers (PIOs) of various departments of UoP to provide the remaining information to the complainants within 10 days else the commission would order action against those willfully denying citizens access to the public information.

On this occasion, Mr Khan vowed that for ensuring full implementation of the KP RTI Act 2013, the commission would continue performing inspection of public offices and would take action against those denying access to information to citizens. He said that RTI law ensured transparency and good governance in the province.

He said that the PIOs should fully understand the procedure of dealing with the information requests so as to deliver.

He urged the relevant authorities to proactively publish public interest information on the internet so that people could access it online without filing RTI requests for it.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2017