Free flow of information can be a strong weapon in curbing corruption, Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury said yesterday and hoped that the government would take measures to etablish the right to information.
Free flow of information can be a strong weapon in curbing corruption, Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury said yesterday and hoped that the government would take measures to etablish the right to information.
He, however, said that only the right to information could not check corruption in a society where the "root of corruption has reached the deepest level."
The ACC chairman was addressing a roundtable titled ‘Good Governance and Right to Information’ as chief guest at the LGED auditorium in the city. Former adviser to the caretaker government Advocate Sultana Kamal was the special guest at the function.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Ain O Shalish Kendra, Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication(BNNRC), D-Net, MMC and Manusher Jonno Foundation jointly organised the discussion marking the ‘International Right to Know Day’.
Hasan Mashhud expressed the hope that the government would take necessary measures to establish the people’s right to information. "The people expect that they will have this right soon," he said.
About the much-talked issue of disclosing the defence budget, he said, "Nothing big will be found if it is made public. Around 90 percent of the budget are allocated for salary purpose… but I personally believe any budget should be made public."
Sultana Kamal said information is also a responsibility. "We can’t expect responsibility from an uninformed society…good governance, responsibility and accountability won’t be there unless there is free flow of information," she said.
It’s the government’s responsibility to disclose the resources of the country and how these are being spent, the former adviser said, adding that the government is bound to publish the information.
Associate professor of Dhaka University Robayet Ferdous presented a keynote paper titled ‘Role of right to information in ensuring good governance: Challenge and opportunities’.
TIB Trustee Board Chairman Prof Muzaffer Ahmad presided over the function moderated by TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman.
Speakers at the roundtable said the existing Official Secrets Acts and rules should be updated and misuse of these should be prevented.
They also observed that free flow of information should be ensured and people would have to come out from the culture of privacy and involve themselves in a large number in the movement for the right to information.
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, editor of The Bangladesh Observer, Prof Asif Nazrul and Dr Golam Rahman of Dhaka University, Governance coordinator of Manusher Jonno Foundation Sanjida Sobhan and Executive Director of DemocracyWatch Taleya Rahman also spoke.