ZCZC
BSS-51
RTI-DAY
Int’l Right to Information Day tomorrow
DHAKA, Sept 27, 2018 (BSS) – The International Right to Information Day -2018 will be observed tomorrow in the country as elsewhere across the world.
This year’s theme of the day is “Fair Law for Free Society, Access to Information in Sustainable Development’.
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, Information Commission has drawn up a three-day programme in the capital and at district and upazila level. A special supplement will be published tomorrow to mark the day while talk shows on right to information will be aired on television and radio.
A press conference will be held at Jatiya Press Club VIP lounge at 10am tomorrow. Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque and Chief Information Commissioner Martuza Ahmed will attend it.
On September 30, a procession will be brought out from Jatiya Press Club at 9.15 am and will be ended at Shilpakala Academy after parading different city streets.
A discussion and cultural function will be held at Shilpakala Academy’s Jatiya Sangeet and Nrittoshala auditorium. A souvenir will also be published.
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 is the civic and democratic right of every citizen.
The Constitution of Bangladesh has recognized the right to information as an indispensible part of freedom of thought and conscience, and of speech, he added.
The government, he said, has formulated the Right to Information Act, 2009 giving priority to people’s right to know and constituted 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 44 private TV channels, 22 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 Bangabandhu Satellite. It will speed up the way of getting correct information,” she said.
The President and the Prime Minister wished all programmes of the day a success.
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