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‘Citizens’ access to information in South Asia: Diagnostic analysis – Bangladesh Chapter’

February 7, 2014, Filed Under: Media & Information Literacy, Media Education Policy

Country: Bangladesh
Language: English
Source: Management and Resources Development Initiative (MRDI)
Author: Sanjida Sobhan, Farhana Afroz, Reaz Ahmad, Hasibur Rahman, Shahid Hossain, Nepal Chandra Sarker and Jayanta Bhowmik
Link: http://mrdibd.org/RTI/RTI MRDI Country Diagonistic.pdf

On April 2009, Bangladesh parliament enacted The Right to Information Act, 2009 to empower the people and ensure transparency and accountability in the government, autonomous and non-government and foreign aided organizations.

The law shines as a milestone in the path of country’s democracy. The law recognizes the people’s right to get information.

The country diagnostic study was conducted to assess the status of citizens’ access to information in Bangladesh. The study analyzed the demand and supply side of the law, for instance how civil society and other stakeholders are using the law and how it is being implemented by the authority. Based on the findings, the study proposes a set of recommendations for better implementation of the law in Bangladesh.

Using a combination of primary and secondary research methods, this study observed and analyzed the implementation of the right to information in government and non-government offices and the condition of citizens’ access to information. Geographically, the study has covered three Divisions/ Departments of three ministries including (I) Local Government Division under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, (II) Directorate of Relief and Rehabilitation under the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management, and (III) Directorate of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Social Welfare.

The reason for selecting these particular three ministries was these divisions/ departments deal with public welfare activities, infrastructure development and other social safety net programmes and consequently have extensive dealings with the public. It has also been found that these are sectors where the risks of poor governance and misuse of resources and consequently deprivation of the rights of the marginalized groups are high, particularly in the safety net programs like allocating cards for the vulnerable groups, allowances for widows and elderly people, etc. These are the areas where the control and influence of the local dominant group is widely known.

The study covered three districts namely the natural disaster prone Barisal, IndiaBangladesh bordering Jessore and food crisis plagued Bogra where numerous NGOs are working. Twenty seven Information Providing Designated Officers of these three offices in nine upazillas of these districts were interviewed. To interview Appellate Authorities, the study contacted three district level officers and three ministry level officers in Dhaka.

The RTI Act of Bangladesh defines a public authority which includes all government organizations and non-government organizations (NGOs) run on government or foreign funding. Therefore, this study has covered 27 NGOs which receive government grants or foreign funds from donors.

The study also integrated observations and comments of the Information Commission of Bangladesh obtained through interviews using specific questionnaire. On the other hand, this study also incorporates feedback from 50 general citizens and 15 media gatekeepers as users of information. An analysis of one year’s media coverage of RTI related news has been incorporated in this study to assess the importance given to Right to Information Act by the media. Data and information for this study, was gathered through questionnaire based interviews, focus group discussions, news analysis, field visits to government/NGO office premises and case studies. Besides, this study has incorporated information from secondary sources including various RTI related research papers, seminar proceedings, workshop reports and the annual reports of the Information Commission of Bangladesh. Each chapter of the study report is presented with the analysis, comments and recommendations of this research. A summary of the whole study has been given in this part. As this study is based on a relatively modest sample, the findings are not intended to be representative of Bangladesh.

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