Staff Correspondent, Dhaka
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has expressed concern over the failure to reconstitute the Information Commission for more than a year since the fall of authoritarian rule, calling for its immediate revival with qualified and impartial commissioners.
In a statement issued on Saturday on the occasion of the International Day for Universal Access to Information, TIB urged the government to end the prolonged paralysis of the Commission and implement necessary amendments to the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2009, along with comprehensive reforms to make the body truly independent and effective.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, TIB executive director, said: “Although the interim government has taken several initiatives toward state reforms, no steps have been taken to make the Information Commission functional or to reform the RTI Act. Civil society has repeatedly offered recommendations, yet no action has followed. This visible indifference to protecting citizens’ right to information is deeply unfortunate and marks one of the major failures of the interim government. We strongly condemn this failure and urge the government to reconstitute the Commission without delay.”
He added that the absence of an active Commission has left RTI complaints unheard and unresolved, while training for information officers and other RTI-related activities remain slow. “As a result, the free flow of information in state institutions is not being ensured, while a culture of secrecy and reluctance to proactively disclose information continues across government offices,” he said.
The TIB ED noted that although the RTI Act established the Information Commission as an independent statutory body, lack of political will and past partisan appointments have hindered its effectiveness. “Consequently, the Act has not set any notable precedent for promoting transparency and accountability in public service institutions or beyond,” he said. T
