Newsmen for co-op from govt officials, Information Commission

Journalists at a meeting on Saturday sought cooperation from the government officials and Information Commission in collecting information through the use of Right to Information Act for making investigative reports.

They made the call at an experience-sharing meeting on the use of RTI Act at a hotel in the city Saturday.

Six journalists from national dailies shared their experiences of using the RTI Act under a project of Management and Resources Development Initiative in partnership with the World Bank Institute.

The initial objective was that the reporter would use the Act for making investigative stories, thus demonstrating to the media in general that the RTI is a tool for investigative reporting.

The newsmen expressed opinion on various problems they face while seeking information from different government offices despite the RTI Act has been in place in Bangladesh since 2009.

Information commissioner professor Sadeka Halim and secretary to the ministry of information Hedayetullah Al Mamun were present at the meeting where Farid Hossain, Bureau Chief of Associated Press was present as special discussant.

Referring to the concern of journalists, Sadeka Halim said the Information Commission was always ready to extend cooperation to the journalists.

But the commission has its own limitations

regarding logistics and manpower. Although it is an independent body, it cannot appoint its own staff independently, she added.

Sadeka stressed more training of the designated information officers so that they can serve the people seeking information.

Hedayetullah termed enactment of RTI Act in Bangladesh a milestone in establishing people's right to information. He acknowledged the journalists' problems in collecting information from the government offices through RTI request.

Mamun said information seekers were facing

problems since enforcement of the RTI Act was still in primary stage. He expressed hope that the situation would improve gradually.

Farid Hossain said reporters could use RTI as an effective tool to write a good investigative report.

Source : New Age