1. On Thursday, 13th June, 2024, Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob delivered a comprehensive lecture on the above topic at National Institute of Management, Lahore. He told the participants that RTI is the most effective tool of good governance as it promotes transparency and accountability, improves governance, empowers citizens, raises self- esteem and creates ownership of the State. He elaborated about the evolution of RTI, which is also part of the UN SDGs (SDG 1610: Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms). He also discussed evolution of RTI in Pakistan from 1990s till 2021. On 26 October 2002, Pakistan got Freedom of Information (FOI) Ordinance which is the first of its kind in South Asia, then Balochistan FOI Act (6 December, 2005), followed by Sindh FOI Act (20 December, 2006). These were restrictive laws with no independent Commission. However, new RTI laws are more progressive, like KP’s RTI Ordinance (2013), KPRTA Act (2013), Punjab RTI Act (2013), new Sindh RTI Act. (2016), New Federal RTI Act (2017) and Balochistan RTI Act (2021).
  2. In global ranking pre-2017 Pakistan was 91/111 with 67 score, now it is 32nd/128 with 115 score. According to PILDAT, as per the RTI score card for 2021, KP stood first, followed by Punjab, the federation, Sindh, and lastly, Balochistan. He also explained various facets of Punjab Transparency and RTI Act, 2013. He highlighted various sections of laws for enhancing understanding of the participants, like Section 4 (proactive disclosure), Section 5&6 (PIC and its functions), Section 7 (designation of PIOs), Section 8 (record, maintenance and indexing), Section 9 (annual report of public bodies), Section 10 (application procedure), Section 12 (internal review), sections 13 (exceptions to the law), Sections 15 & 16 (penalty on PIO and offence), and Section 22 (interpretation in Act) etc. He also shed light on responsibilities of public officials such as PIO, as head of department, as policy-setting senior official. He also emphasized the need to enhance awareness of government functionaries through sessions about RTI laws at training institutions, just like NIM is undertaking.
  3. He also elaborated challenges for PIO, including extra work, pressure from public and superiors, inadequate training on RTI laws, vulnerability to possible blackmail, lack of computerized records. PIOs should be compensated for extra work, he added.