Abstract

Proactive disclosure of information is a distinctive feature of the second-generation Right to Information (RTI) laws in Pakistan. These laws were enacted after the 18th  Constitutional Amendment in 2010, which recognised the right of access to information as fundamental through Article 19-A. These second-generation laws currently exist at the federal level as well as in three of the country’s four provinces. The freedom of information laws, the first-generation laws, in pre-18th Amendment era at the federal level and in the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh, however, did not have proactive disclosure provisions.

Under the Federal Right of Access to Information Act, 2017, Section 05 provides a detailed list of information, which all ‘public bodies’ are under obligation to publish on their official websites. Similar provisions are given in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act, 2013 (Section 05), the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2013 (Section 04) and the Sindh Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2016 (Section 06). 

Section 05 of the Federal Right of Access to Information Act, 2017 and similar provisions of provincial RTI laws require public bodies to proactively disclose several categories of information. These include: description of public bodies’ organisation/ organogram; their mission statement, functions, charters, duties and responsibilities; conditions upon which members of the public can acquire any license, permit, consent, approval, grant, allotment or other benefits from any public body; description of its decision-making processes and detailed budget, including proposed and actual expenditures; and original or revised revenue targets, actual revenue receipts, revisions in the approved budget and the supplementary budget, etc. Moreover, being signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Pakistan is under obligation to enhance ‘efforts to publicly promote the right to information’ (SDG 16.10.02). 

The definition of a ‘public body,’ given in the Federal Act, encompasses all federal ministries, courts, parliament, and several incorporated and unincorporated bodies working under the federal statutes. Similarly, the provincial RTI laws also include a large number of departments, institutions and statutory or non-statutory organisations in the definition of ‘public bodies.’ However, it appears that a large number of these still lag behind in either ensuring their online presence or, if their websites exist, provide only a limited amount of information proactively. The situation requires a comprehensive assessment of implementation of statutory obligation of proactive disclosure under these laws as well as national commitments made under SDG 16.10.02. However, no such exercise so far has been undertaken in the country.  

IRADA proposes to undertake a detailed assessment of the state of compliance of statutory as well as international obligations of proactive disclosure at the federal level as a pilot study of public bodies, such as the 29 (out of 46) federal ministries, which currently have web presence. The aim will be to provide a comprehensive view of the compliance of obligations by each of the 29 ministries through a ‘Proactive Disclosure Index’ (PDI). The information gathered through PDI will be developed into a Ranking Report / Compliance Tracker, producing a comparison of selected public bodies with each other as well as overall ranking of the federal government in the Tracker. Later, the scope of the assessment will be expanded to the provincial levels using the above tools. This will enable the production of a comparative ranking chart / report of implementation of the obligations by each of the federating units.