Punjab Information Commission trains Public Information Officers on the Province’s Right to Information law

November

26: A one-day training session for Public Information Officers

(PIOs) appointed under the Punjab Transparency and Right to

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Information Act 2013 was held by the Punjab Information Commission

(PIC) in Lahore.

The training

was attended by a diverse group of 20 PIOs representing the

Departments of Agriculture, Education, Health, Planning and

Development, Police, Population Welfare, Public Prosecution,

Sports and Town Planning from the districts of Layyah, Lahore,

Multan, Muzzaffargarh and Rajanpur. PIOs from offices of Tehsil

Municipal Administration in Multan were also present.

The training

session was developed and organized in collaboration with PILDAT

to sensitize PIOs on the Effective Use of the Punjab

Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2013. The

session included an in-depth overview of What is RTI and

Why it is Important, which wasled by Mr. Mukhtar

Ahmad Ali, Information Commissioner, PIC. Mr.

Ahmad Mubarak, former Police Service Pakistan Officer,

briefed the participants on Responsibilities of Public Information

Officers under the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information

Act, 2013. The training ended with a group simulation exercise

in which participants enacted the roles of Public Information

Officers and Information Seekers in scenarios designed to test

their knowledge of the Act.

Mr. Mukhtar Ahmad

Ali drew extensively on examples highlighting the importance

of RTI within both Islamic and Western history, and drew the

basis of this fundamental right from both Islamic and Western

canon. “RTI is no longer the sole domain of developed

countries,” he said. “Various developing countries

like India and Bangladesh have successfully modernized their

governance systems through enactment of RTI”.

Mr. Ahmad Mubarak

apprised participants about their responsibilities and powers

under Punjab’s RTI law. “PIOs are the first point

of contact with the public in the overall system of information

disclosure under the PIC,” he explained. “The law

empowers them to decide on matters of information disclosure

according to the provisions of RTI law, regardless of the personal

wishes of superior officers within their assigned offices or

coordinating Ministries.”

Inaugurating

the Training Session, Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President, PILDAT,

commended the PIC for its role in leading the way on RTI within

Pakistan. Mr. Mazhar Hussain Minhas, Chief Information Commissioner,

appreciated the participants’ enthusiasm and encouraged

them to implement what they had learnt during the training within

their respective government departments.

The Training

of Public Information Officers (PIOs) on the Effective Use Punjab

Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013 was facilitated

by PILDAT under the More effective Right-To-Information (RTI)

at Federal and Provincial level (Sindh and Punjab) Project,

for which PILDAT has received financial support from Development

Alternative Inc. (DAI) under the Enhanced Democratic Accountability

and Civic Engagement (EDACE) Project.

For Further

Information:

Mr. Ahmad Shah Durrani, Assistant Projects Officer,

PILDAT

Email:             

ahmad.durrani@pildat.org

Phone:            

051 111 123 345 Ext: 107

Mobile:           

+92 334 672 5475

Twitter:          

@Pildat @KnowMyGovPK

Facebook:        https://www.facebook.com/PILDAT

https://www.facebook.com/KnowMyGovPK

Website:          https://www.pildat.org/