RAWALPINDI - The Punjab government has still not appointed Public Information Officers (PIO) in its offices to provide information to the public.
Six months have gone since the law for Right to Information has been passed in Punjab, but still no Public Information Office has been designated in its institutions.
A free and self-reliant information commission was set up for access to information, but till date the Punjab commission has not started working.
The Punjab government should instantly set up an office and designate staff for information commission, and fix a specific amount for developmental and non-developmental budget.
These views were expressed by Programme Manager Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives, (CPDI) Syed Kausar Abbas while addressing a press conference on Wednesday.
He said that they appreciated the legislation for Right to Information (RTI) in KPK and Punjab; the federal government should also take steps towards implementations of RTI as soon as possible. Through RTI, the citizens would get a chance to make government offices accountable. He said that RTI was the best tool for accountability of public institutions. He claimed that the bureaucracy was taking the process for access to information for granted. According to this law, all government institutions are bound to provide information within a time period of fourteen days. The applicant has the right to file a complaint against the officer with Information Commission in case of refusal of providing information from the public office.
CPDI has launched its help-line service to help the citizens for Right to Information, where every citizen will be guided to access the information and can get all assistance regarding the RTI process.