2013

Islamabad
Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives, Saturday welcomed long overdue approval of Punjab Freedom of Information Act 2013 by Punjab cabinet in the meeting held on Friday.
The cabinet decided that the draft will be promulgated as an ordinance and that it will be later turned into an Act of Punjab Assembly.
However, CPDI Executive Director Syed Kausar Abbas has urged the Punjab government to table the cabinet approved draft in the assembly and pass it as an Act of the assembly after incorporating suggestions of civil society groups rather than promulgating it as an ordinance.
It is praiseworthy that the Punjab government is going to entrust the role of appellate body to Punjab Information Commission in line with the demand of civil society groups working in the area of right to information and transparency.

Islamabad
Syed Kausar Abbas, Programme Manager of Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), has demanded to legislate Right to Information ( RTI) law in Punjab and Federal capital.
He said this while addressing a seminar on ‘Citizens Right to Information’ at Preston University.
The programme was organised by Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives and Freidrich Nauman Foundation (FNF) to engage youth in the campaign for promotion of Right to Information in Pakistan.
He said that the access to information of all the public documents is the fundamental right of every citizen. He said that the Government of Punjab has already legislated some other laws but Right to Information Law is still pending. He said that the Punjab Government must fulfil its promises of legislating Right to Information Law for citizens of Pakistan.
Kausar Abbas said that the budget expenditures of all departments should be presented on the floor of National and Provincial Assemblies after every quarter.

The News

Islamabad: The Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) in collaboration with Freidrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) is holding an extensive campaign with the students of universities to promote Right to Information in Pakistan.
This was stated by Syed Kausar Abbas, programme manager of CPDI, while addressing a large number of students at Iqra University.
Kausar Abbas said that Right to Information is a fundamental right of every citizen under the Article 19-A of the constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He said that the Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa took the initiative to legislate a law on Right to Information. He appreciated the initiative of KP government on legislating a right to information law and urged that the Punjab and Federal should also legislate a law for People’s Right to Information in Pakistan.
He said that the citizens will get empowerment by having Right to Information and this would help to bring transparency and accountability in the public institutions.

The News

Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) on Friday expressed concern over the lack of online management staff of the City District Government, Rawalpindi, to update website on regular basis.
Talking to newsmen here at a local hotel, CDPI Programme Manager Syed Kausar Abbas expressed concern that City District Government of Rawalpindi is still living in the stone-age without having its official website in running position.
He alleged that the official website of City District Government of Rawalpindi is not updated and showing message that it is still under construction. Rawalpindi City District which is the back bone of Punjab and having a population of around 4.7 million in its jurisdiction but the CDGR does not have active and well equipped website management staff.
The Government of Pakistan Muslim League (N) in Punjab has spent billions of rupees on laptop distribution to attract youth to get political sympathies but the official websites of the District Governments is not working, he said.
Kausar Abbas urged that the Punjab government should take immediate steps towards the updating of online data at every department of the districts. He analysed that the District Offices are not well equipped with the information technology. He said that the District Coordination Officer should personally monitor the updates of the website.
The commitment of chief minister towards the openness and transparency could not be ensured without having updates information about the public record on its official’s websites.
He said that the provincial government should put all the public record which includes district budget, development schemes, and minutes of meeting, public expenditures, and contact details of designated officials on its website.
Kausar Abbas said that every citizen has the right of access to information under Article 19-A of the constitution of Pakistan. The legislation on Right to Information in Punjab has not yet been introduced despite giving number of political commitments by the chief minister of Punjab. He said that the Punjab government should spend its budget on the basis of need based by the districts and the citizens.
The budget making process mentioned in the Punjab Budget Rules 2003 are not followed in the districts of Punjab. The citizen’s participation is not encouraged by the District Finance Department in the budget making process. He further said that the Punjab government should introduce online information system at every District and Tehsil level instead of spending money on the laptops for youth.
District Coordination Officer of CDGR, Sajid Zafar Dal, when contacted, agreed to the concern shown by the CPDI with regard to lack of online management staff to update website. However, he said the website of CDGR was being run on ad hoc system. Now on the directions of the Punjab government, the Punjab Urban Unit is providing assistance for providing the CDGR its own website system. Work on this plan is under way and is hopefully to be completed within next two to three months, the DCO confirmed.

The News

RAWALPINDI –  The civil society would stage a protest demonstration and sit-in soon outside Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Office against delay in commencing regular classes at two degree colleges in Dhoke Syedan.

This was stated by Syed Kausar Abbas, Programme Manager of Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) while addressing media persons here on Tuesday.

He said that despite staging protests, holding meetings and writing letters to the government of Punjab, MNAs, MPAs and Commissioner Rawalpindi during last five years, the government failed to start classes in both degree colleges of Dhoke Syedan. He said that the project of two degree colleges in Dhoke Syedan was started in 2007 by the then Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi but the N-league government has not been able to start the classes in both the colleges for the last six years. Kausar Abbas said that Rs 42 million were spent on these buildings in the financial years 2007-08 and 2008-09 but later on the PML-N government stopped funds for these colleges due to political rivalry with PML-Q.

He said that these colleges were located at the boundary of two National Assembly Constituencies NA-52 and NA-54. These constituencies belong to Federal Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Malik Abrar Ahmad. Both the elected representatives have been approached a number of times during the last six years but they always made fake commitments.

Kausar Abbas said that after taking oath Malik Abrar Ahmad committed in a public forum organised by CPDI that the colleges would be started by end of the year but they have not started working on these colleges yet. He said that the Punjab government has spent billions of rupees on Danish Schools and laptops during last five years but they always said that they do not have resources to complete these two colleges.

He further told that these were the only colleges of NA-52 and NA-54 and the students do not have the opportunity to get access to higher education in their own area. The students have to travel long distance to Rawalpindi city or Islamabad to get education. “We have started a door-to-door campaign to muster public support to make the protest demo and sit-in successful and force the government to start classes in the colleges, Abbas added.

The Nation
THe News

RAWALPINDI – The civil society has demanded 20 per cent youth and 33 per cent women representation in local government system 2013.

Syed Kausar Abbas, Programme Manager Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI), stated this while talking to a group of journalists here on Monday. Kausar said that the government should ensure the youth and women participation in the upcoming local government system. He demanded that at least 33 per cent representation should be given to women. He said that female population of Pakistan was around 52 per cent of the total population. The women representation could enhance the development at the local level which would benefit the local community. He said that the women should be encouraged to take part in the local government elections. Syed also demanded at least 20 per cent representation of youth in the local government system.

He said that the population of youth was about 68 per cent of the total population of Pakistan, which could be a revolutionary step towards the development by involving youth representatives at every level. He said that the government should not ignore the 68 per cent of the total population in the local government elections.

The News Link

The Nation Link

ISLAMABAD: In a heartening development on the political scene, PML-N and PTI have started competing with each other and the all-important Right to Information (RTI) laws are in the final stages both in Punjab and KP.

While Punjab has publicised the draft law in order to seek feedback from public, KP is set to unveil revised draft law within a week. “It is a good omen to see this healthy competition,” said Zahid Abdullah, coordinator of Coalition of RTI who has been consulted by provincial administration in finalising the draft.

The laws drafted by both the provincial governments are considered far better than their previous versions, though there is still room for improvement in both. KP government’s earlier draft passed by the cabinet came under criticism.

It was later revised after getting input from the international and national RTI activists. Zahid Abdullah who was part of consultation told The News that KP government was going to unveil it anytime soon as the suggested changes have been incorporated making it a comprehensive law.

Meanwhile, Punjab administration has tried to outsmart its counterpart in KP by advertising the draft law asking public at large to help in its further improvement before it is tabled in the Punjab Assembly.

Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif had assured while talking to The News before election that RTI legislation would be the first to be approved from the provincial assembly if the PML-N was voted to power. PTI leadership, on the other hand, has also been very determined that an effective RTI law could be a major step for eradicating corruption.

Like KP, Punjab’s previous draft law sparked criticism from the RTI activists as several lacunas existed. The draft advertised has been lauded in general, although more changes have been suggested.

Experts say that Punjab’s draft law has incorporated notable provisions relating pro-active disclosure policy, setting up of the powerful information commission and also the clauses related to the information exempted from disclosure are qualified and precisely defined.

However, they argue, draft should be improved further before passed into the law. Centers for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) and Consumer Watch Pakistan (CWP) issued a statement regarding this and identified the areas that need further improvement.

They have demanded the inclusion of provisions in relation to whistle-blowers and their protection; and that the Information Commission may be given the mandate to decide on any complaints. Laws related o whistle-blowers now exist in many countries and are considered crucial for combating corruption, the statement said.

As the draft law says that the chairman of information commission will be appointed by the chief minister in consultation with the leader of the opposition, CPDI fears this practice may result in a deadlock that has often been noted during appointments at federal level.

In order to avoid this situation, a 3-member committee has been proposed and third member should preferably be the Chief Justice of Lahore High Court or Chairman Punjab Public Service Commission. The final decision should be made with majority vote even if there is not overall consensus, CPDI argues.

It may also be added in the draft law, CPDI states, when chief information commissioner is on leave, has resigned or has been removed, the senior most among the remaining members shall serve as the acting chief information commissioner. In other words, it should be automatic and based on seniority, and not left to the discretion of government, the statement said.

It has also been proposed that a department officer assigned the task of providing information should be fined with confiscation of one-day salary in case of delaying the requested information beyond given time period.

The definition of “Information” should also include the categories of information like agreement, feasibility report, inquiry reports, budget and related documents, minutes of meetings, noting on the file, records of payments, records of procurements, quotations, bills, expense claims, vouchers, reimbursement records, inspection or visit reports and work sheets, CPDI said.

As the draft law has been named as Punjab Right to Information Act 2013, CPDI suggested its name as Right to Information Law as the title of Article 19-A of the Constitution is “Right to Information” and this law should have the same title, as it is meant give effect to Article 19A.