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Officials denying information to be fined up to Rs 25,000

Information officials in public offices would be fined up to Rs 25,000 if he or she denies providing information of public interest with the individual or organisation fined the same amount if found misusing the received information.

The new draft of the right to information bill also states that the agencies denying implementation of the decision by the National Information Commission to fine the officers hiding information would be fined Rs 10,000.

The law on right to information ahs been the subject of debate for a long time. A member of the task force Tara Nath Dahal said they had suggested the information ministry to formulate such law years ago, but in vain. He said the act not only protects the rights of the citizens to have access to information but also makes government and public agencies accountable to people.

The draft bill has proposed the protection of sources that leak information of corruption and irregularities in the public bodies. The government cannot terminate or take legal action against such officials with regard to leakage of the information.

However, the proposed national information commission has no new responsibilities and mandates than was mandated to the existing Nepal Press Council. The five-member commission is entrusted to monitor the dissemination of the information from the public agencies and accept complaints and give decisions regarding inaccessibility to such information. Since the bill did not adequately describe the independency of the commission, it is unlikely to avoid government interference into the activities of the commission, which had occurred in case of the Press Council during the direct rule of the king.

Section 8 of the bill proposed the mandatory provision for one information officer in all public offices who would be entrusted to publicise or give information of the concern office whenever needed. This is the first legal provision made for information officer in the bid to protect the right to information of the citizens.

The bill has attempted to simplify the filing system in public offices as well. Section 29 of the bill states that chief secretary, secretary of the concerned ministries and head of the concerned offices would be responsible for management and documentation of the files making it easier to find information when needed. Dahal say this provision has been felt owing to delay in the functioning and delivery of the information from government offices in the past.

Minister of State for Information and Communication Dilendra Prasad Badu has expressed the government's commitments to bring out the law at the earliest possible after being approved by the parliament and the council of ministers.

The taskforce took two months to prepare the bill, which is divided into 4 parts and 34 sections. The taskforce has been entrusted with the drafting of right to privacy act as well. nepalnews.com Indra Adhikari Nov 24 06