Lion Md. Gani Miah Babul
The right to know information is one of the fundamental human rights. Without ensuring free access to information, democracy cannot be strengthened, accountability cannot be established, and meaningful public participation cannot be ensured. The state exists for the people and is run with public money. Therefore, the extent to which public administration is transparent, responsible and accountable largely depends on how easily and reliably citizens can access information about government activities. People have the right to know about government decisions, development projects, public expenditure, procurement processes and public services because these are operated with their money. Access to information enables citizens to ask questions, identify irregularities and demand accountability when necessary. Therefore, in addition to strong laws and penalties to build a corruption-free administration, there must be unrestricted access to information and an effective, transparent administrative culture of disclosure.
The right to information is not a favour or an administrative concession. It is a legal and constitutional right of citizens. It is natural for citizens to seek information about the activities of institutions operated with public funds. If a citizen wants to know how much money has been allocated for the construction of a road in their area, which contractor received the work, what the deadline is, how much has been paid, or whether the quality of the work has been inspected, there is no reason to consider such questions unusual or inconvenient. Rather, such questions should be recognised as an integral part of good governance.
Where information is opaque, opportunities for irregularities arise. If people do not know the allocation of a development project, if project expenditure is not disclosed, if progress cannot be verified, and if the decision-making process of the concerned institution remains unclear, the risks of corruption, waste and arbitrary decisions increase. Conversely, when information is easily accessible, citizens, the media, civil society and relevant authorities can monitor public activities more effectively. Therefore, transparency of information is not merely a matter of the public`s right to know; it is also a powerful tool for preventing corruption.
In Bangladesh, the Right to Information Act, 2009 has established a clear legal basis for citizens` right to access information. However, having a law and ensuring its effective implementation are two different matters. How many ordinary citizens know what information they can request? Where should they apply? Who is the designated information officer? What should they do if they do not receive the information within the stipulated time? What mechanisms are available for appeal or complaint? In many cases, citizens are not sufficiently informed about these issues. As a result, despite having the legal right, they often lack the capacity to exercise it effectively.
The mindset of treating information as a public right has not been established equally across all institutions. In some organisations, there is still a perception that providing information creates an additional burden on the institution. But government institutions are operated with public funds. Answering legitimate questions from citizens is therefore a responsibility, not an extra task.
The greatest emphasis should be placed on proactive disclosure of information. If citizens have to request information first and only then an office provides it, unnecessary complications increase. Instead, information that is important to the public should be disclosed in advance. Government budgets, project lists, allocations, expenditure progress, procurement information, contractors, project timelines, implementation progress, the selection process for beneficiaries of social safety-net programmes and rules governing public services should be made easily accessible to citizens in simple language.
Transparency is particularly important at the local government level. Union Parishads, municipalities, upazilas and districts implement various development programmes for local communities. But if an ordinary citizen does not know which projects have been undertaken in their area, how much money has been allocated, where the money has been spent and what the current status of a project is, how can meaningful public monitoring be ensured? Simply putting up a project inauguration plaque cannot be considered the end of the responsibility. Complete information about the project must be made available to the public.
Similarly, information must be easily accessible in every area of public service, including government hospitals, educational institutions, transport, agriculture, land administration, social safety-net programmes and local infrastructure. A patient should be able to know which services are supposed to be available free of charge at a government hospital. A farmer should be able to know which government assistance he or she is eligible for. A student should be able to know what opportunities and facilities are available to them. A landowner should be able to understand the government procedures related to their land. If the lack of information forces citizens to depend on intermediaries or brokers, it is not merely an information gap; it is also a weakness in governance.
A culture of withholding information strengthens corruption, while a culture of openness strengthens accountability. Therefore, implementation of the right to information must be considered part of the national strategy for preventing corruption. If every stage of a project is digitally visible, it becomes easier to verify progress, expenditure and the identities of responsible officials. Such digital transparency should be further strengthened in public procurement and development projects. However, merely uploading information to a website does not fulfil the responsibility. Information must be accurate, updated, understandable and searchable. It is not enough to upload hundreds of pages of complicated documents to a website and claim that information has been disclosed. If ordinary people cannot understand or access the information, it is not effective transparency. Information must be published in language that people can understand, in an appropriate structure and in a way that allows them to find it easily.
Another problem, alongside the culture of withholding information, is unnecessary bureaucratic delay. If a citizen requests information under the law but has to visit an office repeatedly, search for the responsible officer, inquire about the status of the application or wait for months, then the legal right to information becomes weak in practice. Training, monitoring and accountability of designated information officers must therefore be strengthened. Effective administrative measures should be taken in cases of negligence or unreasonable delay in providing information.
One issue must be made clear: transparency does not mean removing all protections relating to national security or personal privacy. There may be necessary restrictions on information protected by law. However, such restrictions must not be used as a shield for withholding ordinary public information. If information cannot legally be disclosed, the legal basis for such restriction should be clearly stated. The practice of concealing information that serves the public interest must be stopped.
Freedom of the media and the right to information are also closely interconnected. When journalists seek to verify government documents, project expenditures, procurement information or administrative decisions, easy access to information strengthens investigative journalism. This can bring irregularities and corruption to light, increase accountability among the authorities concerned and enable citizens to understand the actual situation. At the same time, information must be carefully verified when used by journalists and on social media. Publishing incomplete or inaccurate information can create confusion instead of transparency.
Citizens must also play an active role in implementing the right to information. It is not enough to expect the state to disclose everything on its own. People need to understand what their rights are and how they can exercise them. Awareness of the right to information should be increased through schools, colleges, universities, local government institutions and civil society organisations. Young people, in particular, can be trained in verifying information, identifying reliable government sources and legally requesting public information.
The most important issue is establishing a culture of accountability. An institution must be prepared not only to perform its duties but also to explain what it has done. It must be able to answer questions such as: How much money was spent? Why was it spent? What was the outcome? Why was the work not completed on time? What benefits did the people receive? Citizens` questions should not be treated as opposition or hostility. Rather, the stronger the environment for asking questions, the more quickly administrative weaknesses can be identified.
A fundamental change is needed in our system of governance. Instead of expecting citizens to prove why they need information before providing it, the right of the public to know should be established as a normal principle of administration. Where there is no legal reason for withholding information, disclosure should be the norm. There is no reasonable justification for unnecessarily concealing government records, project expenditures, the quality of public services or information concerning the use of public funds.
At the same time, every government institution can establish clear standards for information disclosure. It should be clearly defined which information must be disclosed regularly, how frequently it must be updated, who is responsible for publishing it and who will be held accountable for inaccurate or incomplete information. Simply appointing an information officer is not enough. Transparency of information must become part of the overall administrative culture of the institution.
The weaker the right to information becomes, the greater the opportunity for rumours and misinformation to spread. When state institutions fail to provide reliable information in a timely manner, uncertainty grows among the public, creating an environment in which unverified information can spread rapidly through social media. Therefore, the timely publication of accurate information is important not only for accountability but also for public trust and social stability.
One of the principal conditions for establishing a corruption-free administration is unrestricted access to information. The more open the information about administrative activities, use of public funds, development project allocations and expenditures, public procurement, decision-making and citizen services, the more the opportunities for irregularities and corruption can be reduced. Information makes it more difficult for irregularities to remain hidden for long periods. Citizens will know, ask questions and, when necessary, demand accountability. Such public oversight can encourage the administration to become more responsible.
Therefore, citizens must be able to obtain information quickly and easily, without harassment or unnecessary delays after submitting a request. At the same time, government institutions must develop a culture of proactively disclosing important information. Information about project allocations, expenditures, implementation progress, public procurement and public services should be regularly published through digital platforms in a simple and understandable manner. Those responsible should also be held accountable for concealing information without legal justification or causing unreasonable delays in disclosure.
The fight against corruption should not be limited to punishing corrupt individuals. It must also address the opaque environments that create opportunities for corruption. One of the most effective ways to eliminate such opacity is to ensure unrestricted access to information. The more freely information flows, the more transparent the administration becomes; the more transparent the administration becomes, the stronger accountability becomes; and the stronger accountability becomes, the narrower the opportunities for corruption become. Therefore, unrestricted access to information is essential to ensuring a corruption-free administration.
About the Author:
Lion Md. Gani Miah Babul
Teacher, Poet, Columnist, Social Worker and Organiser
Founder President,
Bangladesh Government Secondary Teachers Association (Agriculture), Central Committee
Joint Secretary General,
Nirapad Sarak Chai (NISCHA), Central Committee
Phone: 01552631118, 01842631118
Email: lionganibabul@gmail.com
