DHAKA, Sept 27, 2020 (BSS) – The International Right to Information Day will be observed tomorrow in the country as elsewhere across the world.
This year’s theme of the day is “Access to information in times of crisis”.
The International Right to Information Day was proposed on September 28, 2002 at a meeting of freedom of information organizations from around the world in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Marking the day, different programmes have been taken by the government across the country.
The Information Commission has taken various programs across the country including Dhaka to observe the day.
To mark the day, a discussion meeting will be held at the conference room of the Information Commission in Dhaka tomorrow where Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud will attend as the chief guest.
State Minister for Information Dr Murad Hasan and Information Secretary Kamrun Nahar will be present as the special guests.
President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages on the eve of the day.
President Abdul Hamid, in his message, said, “Access to information embodies human rights of every citizen.”
The Constitution of Bangladesh has enshrined the right to information as an indispensible part of freedom of thought and conscience, he added.
The government, he said, has formulated the Right to Information Act, 2009 giving priority to people’s right to know and constituted the Information Commission to implement the act.
In her message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said information is an important component for empowerment of people.
“Showing respect to citizens’ right to information, we passed the Right to Information Act 2009 in the first session of 9th Jatiya Sangsad. Our government has constituted Information Commission under the act,” she added.
As a result, the prime minister said, the right of people and the mass media to get information has been established and it accelerates the empowerment of people.
The government has played a pioneering role in ensuring information services of people by optimum utilization of modern technology, she added.
“We approved private satellite television for the first time during our 1996-2001 tenure,” the premier said, adding alongside BTV, BTV World and Sangsad Television, her government granted licenses to 45 private TV channels, 28 FM radios and 32 community radio stations to operate in the country.
The establishment of Sangsad Television has made it easier to reach the activities of the National Parliament to the people, she said.
“We have launched 4G and have taken initiative to launch 5G,” she said.
“Today ‘Digital Bangladesh’ is not a dream, it is a reality. Bangladesh will be a middle-income country by 2021 and within 2041 the country would be a developed one and ‘Sonar Bangla’ as dreamt by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman before 2041, Inshallah,” she added.
“From the very beginning, I have been involved in video conferencing by involving frontline fighters from all over the country to combat the unknown virus(coronavirus) through the free flow of information. I have tried to make people at different levels health conscious and all the authorities accountable,” she continued.
The President and the Prime Minister wished all programmes of the day a success.