News
Sunday, September 01, 2013
PTI vows to promulgate new laws in KP soon* Party says Right to Information Ordinance has strengthened transparency in governance
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information & PR and Public Health Engineering Shah Farman has said that the promulgation of the Right to Information Ordinance (RTIO) will soon be followed by the enactment of other such legislations on which spade work has been completed.
Presiding over a meeting regarding media management of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the PTI at the Pakhtunkhwa House on Saturday he said that the promulgation of RTIO in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has on the one hand empowered the general masses in the province as they can now ask for the details of any government function at any time, while on the other hand transparency in the overall governance has been legally and statutorily protected and made binding on each and every government organisation and functionary.
Farman assured that legislations like those for the establishment of an independent Ihtisab (Accountability) Commission, a model local government system in which power and authority is being devolved to the village and tehsil level, Conflict of Interest Law, The Right to Service Law, E-Governance and E-Businesses Laws, The Public Private Partnership Law and The Vassal Law are in final stages and will be promulgated soon. He said that during the past three months the PTI-led coalition government has worked round the clock on these reforms and they are now giving fruit to the general masses.
The minister claimed that the proof of the efforts of the PTI-led coalition government is that corruption has been totally eradicated and now everything is done on merit. He said that the proposed laws will encourage transparency, merit and the rule of law in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that some self-interested elements who were enjoying the benefits of the “previous disorder and corruption” may try to create suspicions among the workers of the PTI but the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are overwhelmingly supporting the provincial government and its policies.
Farman said that the media and media persons from all over the country and the world have appreciated the RTIO but there is still a need for revitalisation of the media outlets. He directed the authorities concerned to strengthen the Provincial Regional Information Office in Islamabad by providing it the required supporting staff and modern equipment. The minister also ordered that the office be strengthened by being provided factual information to make it into a good resource centre where facts and figures can be provided to anyone, including media, wherever requested. Besides others PTI leaders, Fayazul Hassan Chohan, Chaudhary Rizwan, Ihsan Danish, Adnan Haider Randhawa and Regional Director Information Liaqat Amin participated in the meeting.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk