While the ban on YouTube is as effective as Mamnoon Hussain is as the president of Pakistan, you may blow your cool if you go through the events which have unfolded since the authorities in Pakistan slapped a ban on it. The prohibition was challenged in the courts and the government is seen going back and forth in its defence. The later, in fact, has been issuing sporadic half-promises of lifting the ban, while insisting that the ban will remain in place. Given such absurd tactics and delays on the part of the government it goes without saying that it has handled the issue in a manner that has only made a mockery of Pakistan. An estimated 15 to 20 million netizens in Pakistan have been deprived of direct access to YouTube. Accessing the site from Pakistan is no big deal thanks to the countless proxy servers helping its netizens view prohibited material on the web but the very fact that hundreds and thousands of netizens from Pakistan, most of them practicing Muslims, are increasingly turning to unlawful means to access YouTube, speaks volumes about the adequacy of the ban. This silent evasion of the ban by many Pakistanis shows that people consider it to be unjustified. However, accessing YouTube via proxy servers slows down the buffering speed and thus affects those users who have low bandwidth (mostly students) more than the users surfing the web with a faster connection. Our artistes, who used YouTube as an inexpensive and censor-free platform to launch their work e.g., Aaloo Anday, Waderay ka beta, are among the people who have really suffered at the hands of this ban.

The question is: what purpose has this two-year-old prohibition served apart from exposing the amount of inertia and lack of thinking that runs from top to bottom in the government-run institutions. What message has this ban delivered to cybercitizens in our country apart from teaching them how to use illegal means to access a website which is essentially a useful resource for hundreds and thousands of students, professionals and researchers? What has Pakistan gained in the two years since the ongoing ban on YouTube? While the world is moving ahead in terms of using the internet, we are only being plunged into a recess of the dark ages from where there is no way forward. The ban on YouTube is purely a naked power play by the authorities and is all about controlling the behaviour of millions of netizens in Pakistan and denying them censor free access to the internet.

A recent United Nations Human Rights Council report has examined the important question of whether internet access is a basic human right which enables individuals to “exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression”. The report was released after the 17th United Nations session on Human Rights. In it, the United Nations emphasised the importance of broadband and internet access throughout the special rapporteur’s conclusions in the report. The report has also underlined that restricting internet access completely will always be a breach of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the right to freedom of expression.

Access to information is a right that cannot be denied. The Government of Pakistan has been wanting to place ‘filtration mechanisms’ to disallow the viewing of blasphemous videos on the video-sharing website in Pakistan and thus moving in a direction which has no end. The amount of efforts and money invested in devising such a programme is bound to head in only one direction: straight down. As an IT professional, I strongly believe that there is no technical solution that can be used to implement such a filter or block certain content on YouTube despite the ridiculous claims made by the information minister that such a software has been developed.

In the short-term, interstitial warnings — a warning page before a video plays — seems the only acceptable solution if the government is serious about lifting the ban. Google has offered interstitials to Pakistan just like they were offered to Bangladesh, which accepted the solution last year and ended the ban. As a matter of fact, the Government of Pakistan doesn’t even have to request Google for interstitials as YouTube has already applied this on every copy of the video hosted on YouTube and this can be extended to any future videos that result in a crisis of this sort. All the incumbent government needs to do is to restore access to the video-sharing website that has many advantages including being useful for educational, artistic and informative purposes. But for some unfathomable reason, YouTube still remains banned in the country whilst innumerable jihadist websites are easily accessible on the web.

Freedom of expression and information is already curtailed in a country like ours, where democracy is still at a rather nascent stage, and thus we need to resist any attempt to thwart it further. It is imperative to fight against internet censorship in general and the ban imposed on YouTube in particular. Such bans must be seen as a threat to clamp down on civil liberties. We need to strongly resist such tactics aiming to plunge us in a dark era where a centralised authority is able to control our behaviours and all access to information. Instead of concentrating energies on vain attempts, such as deciding what content is permissible for us to watch on YouTube, the government needs to respond to the will of the people and lift the ban from the website.

The writer is a freelance columnist and a political activist who keeps a keen eye on Pakistan’s socio-political issues and global affairs. He tweets at @alisalmanalvi

Express Tribune

The departments interpreted the act on their own and denied information, a petitioner said. Tariq told this correspondent that he had filed two applications under the new act in the S&GAD and the C&W departments, but both of them met the same fate. He said he sought information from the S&GAD about dual nationality holding senior bureaucrats and their assets in the country and abroad. But the department has so far not bothered to share any information with him, he said. Through another petition filed with the C&W Department, he sought information about those officers who were found involved in embezzlement of public funds. But this was turned down by the authorities after a month or so, saying the information could not be shared under the relevant clause of RTI 2013.

Expressing disappointment over such responses, he said the image of the law he developed in his mind was badly tattered and he thought the mighty bureaucracy that runs affairs of the government would never allow implementation of the law in its true spirit. He questioned if the law fails at the initial stage of its implementation, how it would materialise the dreams of transparency in the public funds and boost democracy.

After the promulgation of Right to Information Act, it was expected that corruption-oriented public bodies would be brought to justice, but the denial of the basic right to share fundamental information by the S&GAD and the C&W Department gave a different picture altogether, the applicant lamented.

The departments are not only found guilty of overlooking law, but also misguide the sister organisations by giving wrong information as done in the case of C&W officers promoted to BS-19. The C&W concealed the fact that the officers faced FIRs and corruption inquiries. When the CM office took notice of it, the Chief Minister’s Inspection Team (CMIT) confirmed fraud in the process of promotion of the officers. The inspection team in its inquiry found several officials of ACE and the Communication Department responsible for sending the names of eight executive engineers to the provincial selection board for their promotions despite the fact they were not eligible for it due to the cases they were facing.

A senior officer of the Punjab government awaiting his posting said that out of Punjab’s total ADP to the tune of Rs 345 billion, the C&W budget for the current fiscal year is Rs 32 billion. “If transparency and accountability are to be boosted in the arena of democracy, what’s wrong with sharing details of billions of rupees project with public? Why can’t the information about successful bids and procurement processes be available? If the information is made available, it becomes more difficult for officials to engage in unfair practices,” he observed.

When the province passed access to information law, it was thought that the days for doing corruption and misusing powers were gone, but what happened was abysmal. He said by sharing information with the public, revenue collection could be increased while kickbacks and commission culture could be curtailed. Many countries are passing access to information laws to boost public awareness and deepen trust among people and government, he held. In addition to many western democracies, eastern countries like Philippines, Thailand, Japan and South Korea have also adopted such laws and experienced transparency in the public fund spending.

If the law fails to impose penalty on the public body head for unlawfully delaying access to information, the fate of RTI 2013 in Punjab would not be different from Sindh Freedom of Information Act 2006 and Balochistan Freedom of Information Act 2005 that have proven to be toothless.

If officials are allowed non-compliance with the law by hiding or destroying records, the commission will not be permitted to start functioning properly; if governments systematically abuse access rights, the commissioners may be overwhelmed with appeals thus straining their ability to resolve complaints promptly.

When contacted, newly established Information Commission member and former DIG, Ahmad Raza Tahir, said poor public access to information gives rise to corruption and secrecy allows backdoor deals to determine public spending in the interest of the few rather than the many. He said the provincial government had passed budget for hiring office and other expenditures. Initially, officers would be posted on deputation to run the commission affairs, he added. The rules and regulations have been formulated and forwarded to the departments concerned, the commission member held. He said the commission has started working, but with hiring of a proper office it would do the same formally. He said the online system of redress would be introduced to facilitate the citizens.

The Nation

The draft “Right to Information Act, 2014”, a copy of which is available with The News, not only binds the government to share information about its working but also enables media and general public to get verified information about the functioning of Parliament, members of Parliament, judiciary and even non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Parliamentary sources told The News that the ruling PML-N has agreed to adopt the amended draft law as a government bill, which will soon be presented before the federal cabinet for its final endorsement prior to presenting it in Parliament. In 2013, the PML-N government had drafted a freedom of information law, which came under heavy criticism for being too restrictive and toothless.

But the current draft is being hailed by the experts as one of the best laws in the world as it incorporates all the good features from the RTI laws of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Punjab, which are already enforced in these two provinces.

The draft law also includes a provision to protect the whistleblowers, a feature missing in the Punjab Freedom of Information Act 2013. The federal law strengthens the penalty for non-provision of information while the time limit for the government to respond has also been reduced from 14 days in the provincial laws to 10 days in the federal law.

The introduction to the law states: “Whereas it is expedient to provide for a law which gives effect to the human right to information, as guaranteed under international law and by Article 19A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, whereby everyone shall have the right to have access to all information held by public bodies subject only to reasonable restrictions as established by law, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

The law will apply on all “public bodies” which include government institutions and functionaries, members of Parliament, National Assembly and Senate secretariats, courts, tribunals, commission, autonomous bodies and even the NGOs which are getting direct or indirect funding from the government.

Under the draft law, these public bodies will be required to respond to an information request about their functioning within a period of 10 working days after the request is lodged by an applicant with their designated information officials. “Each public body shall, within forty-five days of coming into force of this Act, notify one or more designated officials, not below the rank of BPS-19 or equivalent: Provided that where no designated official has been notified or he is absent or not available, principal officer of the public body shall be the designated official,” section 7 of the draft law states.

These designated officials will not only be responsible for provision of information to the applicants but they will also assist applicant in drafting their requests.

The draft law also calls for the formulation of “Pakistan Information Commission”, an independent statutory body to facilitate the implementation of law in letter and spirit. “The Information Commission shall also have the power to conduct inquiries, in relation to either an appeal or on its own initiative in relation to other matters connected with the proper implementation of this Act, and when conducting such an inquiry the Information Commission shall have the powers of a Civil Court,” says the draft.

The commission will also create awareness about the right to information through various measures and it will be empowered to set and define rules for the implementation of the act.

The law also specifies punishments for the violators. “Anyone who acts willfully to obstruct the implementation of this Act by: (a) obstructing access to any information or record with a view to preventing the exercise of a right provided for in this Act; (b) obstructing the performance by a public body of a duty under this Act; (c) interfering with the work of the Information Commission; or (d) destroying a record without lawful authority; shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees.

The commission of serious and repeated wilful acts to obstruct the right to information under this Act shall be a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or with a fine of up to one hundred thousand rupees or with both.

The draft law protects the whistleblowers. “No one may be subject to any legal, administrative or employment-related sanction, regardless of any breach of a legal or employment obligation, for releasing information on wrongdoing, or which would disclose a serious threat to health, safety or the environment, as long as they acted in good faith and in the reasonable belief that the information was substantially true and disclosed evidence of wrongdoing or a serious threat to health, safety or the environment.”

After promulgation of the RTI Act 2014, the Freedom of Information Ordinance, 2002 (XCVI of 2002) would be repealed.

The law also specifies exempted information, which includes information that could harm Pakistan’s national security, law and order and international relations. It also protects privacy of individuals and commercial interests of third parties with some legal exceptions. The information may also be exempt if its disclosure would be likely to endanger the life, health or safety of any individual.

The law further states that exceptions shall cease to apply after a period of fifteen years, provided that this may be extended, in exceptional cases, for up to a maximum of another fifteen years, with the approval of the Information Commission.

When contacted, Senator Farhatullah Babar, a member of the Senate standing committee on information and broadcasting and national heritage which finalised the draft on July 15 said several key amendments have been made to the previous Right to Information Bill 2013 which was proposed by the government.

He said the act shall come into force at once and not on “a date to be notified separately by the government” as proposed in the previous draft. The PPP Senator said the composition of the Information Commission has been altered. Previously it was proposed that only a retired judge could head the commission but the Senate committee had changed the condition.

“No sane person will subscribe to the view that judges alone are the repositories of truth, wisdom, integrity and competence to be necessarily placed on the Information Commission and no one else can be placed on it. The job of an Information Commissioner is such that it does not require that one should be or have been a judge. A competent journalist and media person of integrity or a retired bureaucrat or any other professional may even be more suitable for the job,” Babar said.

“Judges are honourable men and women but let us not forget that that there are outstanding men and women in other walks of life too who areno less honourable and who can make even better Information Commissioner than a judge,” he added.

Babar said his views have been suitably incorporated in the draft finalised last month. He said Parliament too has been given a limited role in nominating a member of the commission. He said although the draft law was finalised by representatives of various political parties including PPP, MQM, PML-Q, ANP, PKMAP and PML-N, the committee has agreed that it will be a government bill and all these parties will support it in Parliament.

“The finalised version should be made available to the Senate Committee during the current session of the Senate starting tomorrow after which the process to lay it as government Bill will begin,” he said.

The civil society organisations are also all praise for the draft law.“This is one of the best RTI laws in the world as it incorporates all the good features from the past laws,” said Zahid Abdullah from Center for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI).

He said the draft law is even better than the RTI laws of KPK and Punjab.

“The list of exempted information is small and clear so everyone knows which information can be obtained,” he added.He said punishments under the draft law are strong enough to deter any government official from withholding information.

The News

The order was rapidly disowned by PEMRA in a press release that said it was issued following a meeting yesterday of only five PEMRA members that did not comply with Rule 3(4) of PEMRA Rules 2009, under which at least seven of PEMRA’s 12 members must attend a meeting for it to be validly convened.

The release added that the decision that PEMRA took at an earlier, valid meeting on 9 May to “refer the [Geo Television] case to the Ministry of Law for legal opinion” was therefore still in effect.

The case was referred to PEMRA last month by defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, who was seeking legal redress against Geo News for reporting allegations that Pakistan’s intelligence agencies were behind a shooting attack on Geo News anchor Hamid Mir in Karachi on 19 April.

“The hasty decision by three PEMRA members that was immediately disowned is indicative of a desire by certain government representatives to use any means, including illegal ones, to ban Geo News from broadcasting,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk.

“We urge PEMRA not to yield to pressure from the intelligence agencies and the defence ministry, and to ensure that the law protects freedom of information.”

Mir has been the target of repeated threats, intimidation and prosecution as a result of his coverage of the activities of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s leading intelligence agency, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan.

He shared his fears with Reporters Without Borders and his brother, Amir Mir, saying that if he was the target of any attack, “the ISI and its chief, Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam, should be held responsible.”

After Mir’s brother repeated Mir’s statements on Geo News in the wake of the 19 April attack, the TV station was accused of broadcasting unpatriotic accusations and was the target of smear campaign in the following weeks.

The climate for employees of the Jang/Geo media group has deteriorated dramatically, with journalists working for Geo News and the newspaper Jang receiving repeated threats, including death threats.

A note left at the Jang printing press on 5 May accused Jang and Geo News employees of being “anti-Pakistan, anti-Islam, anti-Army” and threatened Jang with “serious consequences” if it did not close its Peshawar offices. Employees were also told to “quit and leave the traitor group immediately.”

The Sunni Ittehad Council, an Islamic political party, announced on 15 May that it regarded Geo News as “haram” (forbidden) and called for its prohibition for broadcasting “blasphemous” content.

Pakistan is ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the 2014 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Reporters Without Borders

The world body said last year 71 journalists were killed, while another 826 were arrested.

More than 2,000 journalists were threatened or physically attacked last year.

Finland tops the World Press Freedom index for the fourth straight year, closely followed by Netherlands and Norway, like last year.

Pakistan is still deemed the “most dangerous country in the world” for working journalists.

On the freedom index the United States is number 46 on the list of 180 countries. Haiti is number 47. Cape Verde comes in at number 24 and Britain is 33. Russia is number 148, Cuba is 170 and China is ranked at number 175.

The World Press Freedom Index spotlights the negative impact of conflicts on freedom of information. Reporters Without Borders, the sponsors of the index, said some countries have been affected by a tendency to interpret national security needs in an “overly broad and abusive manner to the detriment of the right to inform and be informed.”

The group said the trend was a “growing threat worldwide” and endangering freedom of information in countries regarded as democracies.

In a joint message by Secretary-Genera Ban Ki-moon and Irina Bokova, Director-General of UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), said UN bodies are already working together and with other partners under Unesco’s leadership to create a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers around the world.

World Press Freedom Day, which was designated as May 3 in 1993 by the UN General Assembly, is being marked in about 100 countries.

DAWN

LAHORE: The Punjab government tabled and started debate on the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Bill 2013 in the provincial assembly on Wednesday to make compulsory for government departments to provide the demanded information within the next 14 working days to the citizens.

Under the proposed laws, a special commission would be formed by the name of the Punjab Information Commission (PIC) that would consist of three information commissioners equivalent to the public officer of grade 21.

The commission will be responsible for providing information to citizens directly when they submit any request in this regard.

One of the members of the commission will be equivalent to the judge of the high court and the second equivalent to grade 21 officer, while the third one will belong to the civil society, having more than 15 years of experience in his field with skills in mass communication.

The complainants could submit a request of information about any government department to the commission directly through its online service or a written application, and the commission will provide such information within 14 working days to the applicant.

The commission will gather the demanded information from the relevant department and the authorities of that department will be bound to provide accurate information regarding the request to the commission.

However, information related to national defence and security, public order and international relations of Pakistan will not be provided to the citizens.

After the bill was tabled, the opposition benches made hue and cry and strongly opposed it, and also pointed out the quorum three time. By the reason of lack of quorum, the chair pended debate on the bill until today (Thursday).

There are high chances that the bill will be passed today despite reservations of the opposition.

Deputy speaker Sardar Sher Ali Gorchani chaired the session on Wednesday that started one hour and 43 minutes late.

During the question hour, Minister for Forests, Fisheries and Wildlife Malik M Asif was given a warning by the chair after he gave unsatisfactory and contradictory answers to a question several times.

The speaker directed him to probe the issue and inform the House about the real situation after collecting the required information.

However, while answering to a question regarding permission to foreigners for hunting in Punjab, the minister said that foreigners were being allowed by the Foreign Office for their “hunting adventures” in Pakistan.

He said the office used to issue special permission to them, whereas the local people were not allowed to take part in such activities.

The minister said that such special permissions were issued to figures of brother Islamic countries alone.

“They were being issued visas for specific days and to hunt a hundred brides only,” he mentioned.

Meanwhile, treasury and opposition members disregarded his statement and said that foreigners used to stay for more than 20 days and they hunted countless birds.

Asif also informed the House that the proportion of forests’ land in the province did not meet international standards, as the area should at least have a forest cover of five per cent of its total geographical area.

Out of the total 50.956 million acre land, the province had forest on only 1.62 million acres (3.1 per cent).

He mentioned that in order to meet the international standards of having forests on at least five per cent of the land, the province would need a hefty amount of Rs 1 billion along with 600 cusecs of water, which according to him was an impossible task under the prevailing circumstances.

Pertaining to a question about transfer of 55 acres in Lodhran to a politician, the minister stated that the land was not delivered to a person but an organisation in 1981.

The minister also pledged that after enacting the Forest Act, 2010, the activities of the timber mafia had been reduced by 42 per cent.

Though he admitted that the illegal activity of timber theft was taking place with the connivance of some officials of the department.

He also informed the House that the government had banned felling of trees in Murree.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, in his speech, claimed that the government was complying with the Supreme Court’s observations.

He appreciated that PML-N’s defence minister presented himself before the apex court when summoned.

Sanaullah termed Imran Khan as an unintelligent person for staging a sit-in protest in order to stop NATO supplies.

“By doing this, the PTI cannot stop drone strikes,” he underscored. PTI member Sadiq Khan walked out of the House after not being allowed to speaker on a point of order. He tried several times to speak on a point of order but the speaker did not allow him. Upon this, opposition leader Mehmoodur Rasheed also protested inside the House and asked the speaker to be unbiased towards the opposition members.

Treasury member Mian Aslam brought Sadiq Khan in the House again on the directives of the speaker.

Daily Times

Sahibzada Muhammad Khalid, a grade 22 official who resigned from the K-P Public Service Commission earlier this week, has been appointed for three years. This period starts from the date of his taking office as outlined by Section 24 of the RTI Act, read the official statement.

The search committee, which will decide two other ‘commissioners’ was also announced. K-P Chief Secretary Arbab Shahzad will serve as the chairman of the committee. Justice (retd) Abdul Aziz Kundi, University of Engineering and Technology Vice Chancellor Syed Imtaiz Hussain Gillani and Rahimullah Yousafzai were announced as members. K-P Secretary Information will serve as secretary to the committee.

The search committee will ensure merit based appointments, mindful of the criteria for the commissioner jobs, within 30 days, added the handout. The eligibility for commissioners set under Section 24 of the RTI Act states one of the members needs to be an advocate of the high court or Supreme Court who is qualified to be a judge at the high court. The second member will be from the civil society and should have no less than 15 years of experience.

The act has a deadline of 120 days to appoint the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Commission after its commencement.

The RTI bill was unanimously passed by the K-P Assembly on October 31 and was sent to the office of Governor Shaukatullah Khan to sign. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Spokesperson for Chief Minister Shiraz Paracha confirmed the governor had signed the act and therefore, appointments had been made.

Express Tribune

Despite these regrettable changes, the RTI bill could be used as a model for the other provinces and the centre. The draft Freedom of Information Bill presented by the PML-N is a travesty that does the very opposite of what such a bill should do. It gives individual departments the right to decide if they want to release documents and the only oversight is in the form of an ombudsman who can advise them but has no real authority. Each request for information also requires the payment of a burdensome fee which will surely discourage the public from exercising their right to know what their elected representatives and public servants are up to. This is where the RTI bill should inform the Freedom of Information bill currently being considered in the Senate. The RTI bill mandates that officers be appointed who can be approached for all requests for information and who will be expected to avoid delays and obfuscation. Even more importantly the RTI bill includes protection for whistleblowers so that no one will lose his or her job for revealing information that could be damaging to those in power. Of course, the success of the RTI can only be judged by its implementation but the federal government should pay heed to some of the language in that bill.

The News

The minister said this in a letter written to PBA Chairman M Aslam Kazi and APNS President Sarmad Ali on Friday.

The letter read, “Even at this stage when the Bill has already been moved in the Senate, we would like to know and understand your perspective in the matter. Please forward your recommendations with regard to the Bill, to us, in writing or a meeting can be arranged at the earliest with the representatives of APNS and PBA to further discuss your proposals.”

The minister assured that these recommendations will then be brought up during discussions in the Senate. “It is right of people to have correct information in order to keep check on the performance of the executive machinery,” he added. He said that as committed in the manifesto, the government of PML-N believes in transparency and sharing information with the general public in a way it happens in any democratic society and in accordance with provisions of the constitution.

The letter said, “We appreciate the interest of APNS and PBA over the draft Right to Information Bill. However, we have learnt your concerns about the Bill through an advertisement placed recently in both print and electronic media which apparently was sponsored by APNS and PBA.”

The letter further said APNS and PBA are well aware that the draft bill, which has now been tabled in the Senate, passed through various stages over a period of time and it was also reported in the national press several times during the process of its formulation. Initially, the bill was discussed in the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting headed by Senator Kamil Ali Agha and comprising senators of all major political parties in the Senate, the letter read.

“It was then referred to the sub-committee with Senator Farhatullah Babar as convener to consider and scrutinise all aspects of the draft bill. The sub-committee held extensive meetings with relevant government and non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders including media representatives for preparation of the report. Their valuable inputs were incorporated in the draft bill. It was after thorough deliberations by all stakeholders that the bill, in its present form, was recommended by the Standing Committee. The committee has unanimously approved the bill.”

After detailed discussion, it said, the committee decided that the recommendation of the standing committee may be moved in the House under Rule-195 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012 and with the request of the House to adopt the recommendation of standing committee under Rule 196 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012.

Thereafter, it added, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting with the approval of the cabinet will introduce the recommendation of the standing committee as an official bill.

Daily Times

The minister said this in a letter written to PBA Chairman M Aslam Kazi and APNS President Sarmad Ali on Friday.

The letter read, “Even at this stage when the Bill has already been moved in the Senate, we would like to know and understand your perspective in the matter. Please forward your recommendations with regard to the Bill, to us, in writing or a meeting can be arranged at the earliest with the representatives of APNS and PBA to further discuss your proposals.”

The minister assured that these recommendations will then be brought up during discussions in the Senate. “It is right of people to have correct information in order to keep check on the performance of the executive machinery,” he added. He said that as committed in the manifesto, the government of PML-N believes in transparency and sharing information with the general public in a way it happens in any democratic society and in accordance with provisions of the constitution.

The letter said, “We appreciate the interest of APNS and PBA over the draft Right to Information Bill. However, we have learnt your concerns about the Bill through an advertisement placed recently in both print and electronic media which apparently was sponsored by APNS and PBA.”

The letter further said APNS and PBA are well aware that the draft bill, which has now been tabled in the Senate, passed through various stages over a period of time and it was also reported in the national press several times during the process of its formulation. Initially, the bill was discussed in the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting headed by Senator Kamil Ali Agha and comprising senators of all major political parties in the Senate, the letter read.

“It was then referred to the sub-committee with Senator Farhatullah Babar as convener to consider and scrutinise all aspects of the draft bill. The sub-committee held extensive meetings with relevant government and non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders including media representatives for preparation of the report. Their valuable inputs were incorporated in the draft bill. It was after thorough deliberations by all stakeholders that the bill, in its present form, was recommended by the Standing Committee. The committee has unanimously approved the bill.”

After detailed discussion, it said, the committee decided that the recommendation of the standing committee may be moved in the House under Rule-195 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012 and with the request of the House to adopt the recommendation of standing committee under Rule 196 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012.

Thereafter, it added, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting with the approval of the cabinet will introduce the recommendation of the standing committee as an official bill.

Daily Times