PESHAWAR, Nov 2: A non-governmental organisation has demanded of the government to also give right of access to information to the people of Federally Administered Tribal Areas through a presidential order so that they could also benefit from the Right to Information Act (RIA) 2013 passed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.

The demand was raised by the Development, Environment, Legal Aid, Technical Support and Advocacy Association, president Nazlee Sardar while submitting certain recommendations to the provincial government for further improvement of the RIA.

Briefing a consultative meeting at the Officers Mess here on Saturday, Ms Nazlee said that as per Article 19-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, it was the fundamental right of all citizens to have access to information at the federal and provincial levels. She said that the KP government`s newly promulgated RIA was a bold attempt to bring transparency in the province.

She said that the recommendations had been submitted to Information Minister Shah Farman, who was supportive of the association`seffort and consented to incorporate these concerns in the bill, to be tabled in near future.

The information act, she said, needed to be replicated at the federal level. `The media is in the forefront in highlighting issues concerning corruption. Hence a member from the media should also be included in the information commission alongside other members,` she said.

Ms Nazlee suggested that the lower courts as well as the high courts should not be exempted from application of the law.

`It is necessary that the judiciary is also made accountable as per international practice.

Hence, an information cell should be created within the courts to provide information through an information officer deputed to the cell by the government emulating the structure at the district level,` she said.

She said that this cell could be housed at the Human Rights Directorate established by the chief justice at the high court level. She added that the information could be sought from the relevant forum, which should be clarified in the content of the law/rules pertaining to it.

-Bureau Report