ABBOTTABAD: Speakers at a seminar here on Tuesday said that Right to Information and Rights to Service Acts were meant to provide information and services to members of a community in an effective and transparent way to promote transparency and accountability.

The one-day awareness and advocacy seminar was arranged at Comsats University, Abbottabad campus by department of development studies in collaboration with Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar and German development agency GIZ.

Besides the students and teachers of different departments, a group of students and teachers from Beaconhouse School System also attended the seminar. Dr Usman Ghani, Dr Nauman and Shumaila Tabassum of IMS and GIZ representative Kashif addressed the awareness session.

They said that RTI Act enabled citizens to effectively access information held by public bodies in hope to increase transparency and accountability. Similarly Right to Services Act was meant to ensure delivery of public services to people within the stipulated time limit.

The services include, but are not limited to, access to drinking water and water connections, sanitation services, death and birth certificates, land mutation certificates and inheritance certificates besides others services related to police, transport and forest departments.

The speakers said that stipulated time frames were mentioned against provision of each service. Failure of authorities to provide information or services under the given stipulations and conditions, permitted citizens to file complaints with RTI and RTS commissions, they added.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2021