No budgetary allocation to implement RTI

Feb 10, 2017

No budgetary allocation has been made for the implementation of the right to information act (RTI) that came into force on February 03, sources say. Finance minister Ravi Karunanayake has admitted that too.

Now, applications are being made requesting information. Within 14 working days of the submission of an application, the applicant will be informed if the information sought could be given. In the next 14 days, the information will be provided. If an application is rejected, an appeal can be made within two weeks. A further three weeks will be made available to deal with appeals. If that too, fails to gain a favourable response, the applicant can complain, within two months, to the RTI commission, which will investigate the reasons on behalf of the applicant for not providing the information sought. Accordingly, it is clear that if the application for information continued to be rejected, it will take two months and one week for the appeal to reach the RTI commission. The commission should deliver its ruling within one month.

Therefore, applications for information will flow in after the Sinhala Tamil New Year in April and the commission will have to employ a big staff after providing training for them. According to reports, the recruitment of staff to the commission will be gazetted in March. Therefore, it is a question if there will be time adequate to recruit and train the staff properly to ensure an efficient service. Institutions that deal with the RTI say a considerable funding will be needed.

Reports say trained officers have been appointed to divisional secretariats to provide information. However, no such appointments have been made to the police and many other institutions. The RTI act says in the absence of an appointed officer, the head of the institution should serve as the information officer. The government will announce if information officers have been appointed to public institutions.

The belief is that it will take six months for the RTI to become effective properly, and that is from August 03. Until then, there will be disruptions to the efficient provision of information due to a shortage of officials, restrictions in knowledge etc. However, the right to seek information for public good is available from February 03.

Globally, Sri Lanka had been in the 9th position on the availability of laws on right to information, but with the RTI, the country has advanced further. In the first place is Mexico.