The parliamentary standing committee on information ministry yesterday recommended that the House amend the right to information (RTI) bill to curtail some organisations’ absolute authority to deny information to individuals.
The bill, placed in parliament for enacting law for continuation of people’s access to information, proposed continuation of the provision for blanket immunity to some organisations from disclosing information on some specific matters.
But the parliamentary standing committee in its report on the bill placed in parliament recommended that the organisations seeking to keep information undisclosed would have to take prior permission from the RTI commission to do so.
Once the bill is amended as per the committee’s recommendation, none of the organisations — government, statutory or others registered under the laws of the land — will be able to deny giving information to individuals without prior permission from the commission.
As per a provision of the bill, organisations are not bound to provide or disclose information that might pose a threat to country’s security, integrity and sovereignty or confidential information received from any foreign government, advance information on changes in tax, VAT and budget, matters under trial and investigation and summary prepared for cabinet meeting.
Committee Chairman Obaidul Quader placed the report in the House and recommended passage of the bill with proposals for changes in it.
The committee also recommended that the House form the right to information commission in 90 days, instead of the present provision for forming it ‘as early as possible.’
It also recommended bringing changes to the formation of the select committee to pick a panel for the commission.
As per the committee’s recommendation, a person practising journalism and having the qualification of an editor or any distinguished member of civil society involved in mass media can be incorporated in the five-member body.
The committee also recommended that the organisations must publish reports every year with details about their structures, functions, laws, rules and notifications.
However, the bill proposed publishing such reports after every two years.
The immediate past caretaker government promulgated the right to information ordinance to ensure people’s access to information. But the ordinance ceased to have effect on February 25 as it was not ratified in parliament on time.
Later the government placed a bill for continuation of the legal framework with retrospective effect from October 20, 2008, the day the ordinance was promulgated.
The bill was sent to the parliamentary standing committee for scrutiny.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on home ministry placed in parliament two separate reports on two bills on Sylhet and Barisal Metropolitan Police.
The committee recommended that the House pass the bills bringing some amendments to it.
The chief of the parliamentary standing committee on civil aviation and tourism ministry also placed a report on scrutiny of the Bangladesh Biman Corporation (amendment) bill.
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