NIC urges local units to make RTI-related laws

Published On: August 9, 2018 05:00 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Aug 9: The National Information Commission (NIC) has requested all local governments to formulate necessary laws soon so that the general public can easily exercise their fundamental right to information at the local level.

At a function organized by NIC to sensitize people's representatives and chief administration officers of Province 3 on Wednesday, Chief Information Commissioner Krishna Hari Baskota urged the local units to take initiatives to formulate laws related to right to information at the local level to disseminate information of public importance in a systematic manner and promote transparency and accountability in all the administrative as well as development activities at the local level.

“The commission is ready to help in the matter. We also urge the local units to encourage the general public to exercise their right to information,” he said. The NIC had invited people's representatives from all the 119 local units of Province 3 to sensitize them about the right to information act and its importance.

He also urged the local units to hold training sessions at least once a year at the local level to make the staffers, civil society members as well as other officials aware about the right to information. “We request local representatives to come up with a schedule and make public information of public importance in a timely matter. If possible, we encourage you (local representatives) to make public the information in other local languages also apart from Nepali,” he added.

Other information officers also echoed Baskota.