Bagmati Province minister Shrestha calls for collective efforts to implement RTI

Lalitpur, March 10: Bagmati Province’s Minister for Internal Affairs and Law Ganga Narayan Shrestha has stressed the need for collective efforts for the implementation of right to information (RTI). A separate provincial mechanism has been set up to provide access to information as the National Information Commission is not enough, he said while addressing an event with theme of the promotion of RTI organised here today by the provincial body responsible for taking appeal seeking RTI.

An awareness programme would be launched soon for the implementation of RTI, he said. “RTI has yet to be fully enforced. The province has also been in the process for its implementation by making related acts. For it, there must be grassroots awareness. The provincial body is tasked with establishing RTI among target people,” he said. The Ministry soon would put forward the policy of encouraging the information officer who has delivered excellently, he said while directing all government information officers to provide information 24 hours a day.

Feeling the need to provide information in simple languages so even people from all levels of educational background can understand, the Ministry would move ahead accordingly, said the minister. Similarly, the province’s communications registrar Rewati Prasad Sapkota called for the proper utilisation of RTI for its maximum benefit. Chief attorney of the province Gyanendra Nepal underscored the need for the effective implementation of RTI which is guaranteed by the constitution as people’s fundamental right.

Also, speakers, the Ministry’s secretary Narayan Prasad Sharma, the provincial body’s chairperson Hari Prasad Adhikari and chairperson of the Kathmandu Valley chapter of the National Federation for Right to Information, Tara Bahadur Bhandari called for cooperation among stakeholders to effectively implement RTI.