Right To Information Essay 194z61

RIGHT TO INFORMATION AND ROLE OF STUDENTS Azeem Khalid STUDENTS are the future of any society. They are energetic and youthful. All what will happen to any state or society is totally dependent on the youth. Right to information’s powerful tool empowers citizens to head towards a progressed and corruption free welfare state where the future is safer and healthier. Where the prosperity reflects from happy faces of all, where no money is plundered, where tax is used with care, where all are under a check to perform well and where there is no secrecy of information. Students’ role entails many a things. With respect to right to information act the student community is the key to implementation. And in practices ranging from awareness creation to successful application of the law resulting in a prosperous society the role of students is undeniable. To understand the role of students with respect to Right to Information law first we should have a grip on the meanings and concepts like Rights, Information, Human Rights and Basic Human rights. 1. RIGHTS In a society or state everyone has certain rights and duties. Rights are all those normative rules which allow a person to get, to give and to acquire those entire things, feelings and expressions which are owed to him. In short Right can be it can be defined as “A person’s right is the fundamental normative rule about what is allowed of him or owed to him.” While establishing the understanding about rights one should always keep in mind that if he has some things to get and some rights to acquire then he has many duties to do. Ones right is other’s duty. For example, a child has right to get good education. It means that his parents and his family have a duty to provide him with the feasible environment and facilities to get ission. It also implies that the state is having a duty to facilitate all children good institutions like schools, colleges, universities and libraries where children can learn and acquire knowledge. In

short a right of one unit is duty of one or more than one units. Socially and ethically it is binding on all human beings to respect and give others their rights. Immanuel Kant, a philosopher of note said advocating the respect of others rights, “In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.” Same is for all those who do not want their rights to be violated. They should perform their duties well, that is directly fulfilling others rights. Rights that do not flow from duty well performed are not worth having.

2. HUMAN RIGHTS Human rights are those unalienable and undeniable rights of human beings to which humans are inherently entitled to get, simply because of being humans. These rights are must and can never be snatched or taken away from humans at any cost. Hence these rights are applicable everywhere and are same for all that is egalitarian. The one who snatches or try to snatch these rights from human beings are considered as enemy of all. 3. IDENTIFYING FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS Fundamental human rights are legal protections which are due to citizens of any state. Usually these rights are endorsed by the states in one form or other. Many states have made the provision of fundamental human rights part of their constitutions. Such rights thus belong without presupposition or cost of privilege to all human beings under. The concept of human rights has been promoted as a legal and constitutional concept in large part owing to the idea that human beings have such "fundamental" rights, such that transcend all jurisdiction, but are typically reinforced in different ways and with different emphasis within different legal systems. Some universally recognized rights as fundamental, i.e., contained in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, or the U.N. Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, include the following: 

Right to self-determination

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Right to liberty

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Right to due process of law

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Right to freedom of movement

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Right to freedom of thought

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Right to freedom of religion

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Right to information

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Right to freedom of expression

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Right to peaceably assemble

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Right to freedom of association

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Right to marry

These are some of the basic and fundamental human rights. The list is long as there are many rights possessed by human beings. Civilized societies always make sure the provision of all basic rights to all citizens without any discrimination or bias. The focus of essay is towards freedom to Information. This is a well-established fact that information shall be available to all the citizens of any state. In Pakistan, this thought was there but the realization of the fact came later. Some international organizations (IGOs) and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) worked tirelessly and made people and government ready to acknowledge the Right to information.

4. RIGHT TO INFORMATION: As all other fundamental human rights Right to information (Commonly known as RTI) is an important part of fundamental human rights. “WE HAVE RIGHT TO KNOW” is one important slogan. As explained earlier the relationship of rights and duties here in this case the right is of all citizens of a state and at the other end of duties id Government. It is a duty of all citizens of a state to pay taxes, and in return state will secure and provide all rights to the citizens. Getting Information is right of all citizens and it is duty of government to make suitable arrangements to perform this duty. WHY WE NEED TO KNOW? Human beings are curious and inquisitive living beings. It is in the nature of humans to search answers for their benefits and maximization of interests. We acquire information and use

it with the agenda of getting most out of it. Information is used in many ways. While being the citizens of a state which is being run by citizen’s money it is right of taxpayer to know where its money is being spent and if it is being used in right ways and directions. None of the world’s Seven millions of people want his money to be used by any corrupt person. Right to information law enables citizens to be the part of ability process and to be in picture of the matters in which his money is being poured. Citizens’ access to Information is must for transparent and good governance. It also is accordance with transparency and fight against corruption. This right of information is a powerful tool, if applied well by the people. It can help overcome many governance deficits and make institutions work for citizens. 5. RTI LAW AND ITS IMPORTANCE: According to Article 19-A of the 1973 Constitution, every citizen has the right to get information from any state-owned body if it is in the public interest. The Freedom of Information Ordinance was ed in 2002. After this, it was changed into the Right to Information (RTI) Act under the Eighteenth Amendment. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab governments have taken the good step to the RTI law. In Punjab’s case, the RTI law is being openly debated in public. The law has given the constitutionally granted basic right to people to know what the government and its functionaries do. Earlier everything of the government was a secret. Now except for real secrets, everything else is open to public scrutiny.

ROLE OF STUDENTS: Many questions have been raised in the minds of the people regarding this law; for instance, how will this law be imposed? Will this law be of benefit to the public? Will the relevant organizations give information to the common man when petitioned? What is also important is that people not only talk about wanting good governance, they should also be taking sound steps in order to make this happen. For this the role of students can be vital.

Every law es through some phases from its making to successful implementation and from implementation to a contributor to benefits for the people. Students can play important role at every step. Following are the major and broader areas where students can be effective. 1. As an agency of motivation and inspiration: Students are mostly at the age where they are young and energetic. They have capabilities and potentials to prove them and demonstrate their moral, virtuous and upright deeds to the people of their society, enabling them to be a source of motivation and inspiration for others. RTI is for the benefit of all. Students on higher moral grounds can use this fruitful law for the good of other human beings. If one does this practice, he will be a source of inspiration at first and secondly a motivational force for others to practice this law. Result will ultimately be in reduction of corruption and transparent governance. 2. Awareness creation in society and their educational institutions: Pakistan is a developing state where literacy rate is low and standards of education are somewhat pathetic. In such a society it gets very hard for the governments and other organizations to create awareness. Students belong from all strata of society. They are present within the society and closely linked with the public. A candle lits other candle and this process goes on. A student can educate other fellow students in his school, college or university about RTI law and convince him about its utility and worth. Hence they are at apposition where they can educate people about RTI law, its importance, its implementation, its process, its benefits and all. Once this awareness is induced in the society no hurdle would be able to hinder Pakistan to progress towards a corruption free state. 3. Implementation helpers: Implementation of a law is the soul of law. If a law is not implemented it would not be a real law. A law is simply implemented if it is practiced. Students should work to use this law. Ask

for the information from officers, convince their friends, family and colleagues to use this law to get information. RTI is very helpful for students as it helps in information collection which is backbone of all the study and research. Getting information from the government official for research purpose was a hell difficult task but after the RTI it is easier and safer to ask for the information and get it for the research purpose and use it for the well-being of the society and state. Indirectly this will help in implementing the law and pour life and positive activity in the body of RTI’s written draft. 4. Train on how to use the law: Students should learn the tools and procedures to use RTI law. Firstly it will enable them to acquire information and knowledge and secondly energetic young students will be equipped with the tools to help and safeguard the interests of them. Khalil Gibran Said, “Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful.” 5. Helping citizens through the processes: Once the tools and techniques are learned the doors to be a part of noble group of crusaders for the corruption free and transparent society. A student can help other citizens throughout the whole process. Things like writing applications, going to information office, getting and collecting information and dealing with small glitches may be hurdles for the person who wants to get info. These things may push him away from the process. Students should always be there for him to help him out at any stage so he could get to required information easily. 6. Taking suitable actions if information is not delivered or wrong: There may be instances where wrong or misleading information is giving out from the officer. Then the student should really charge in to work for the rights of the person who is denied from his right. He should be a helping and motivating hand for the proper procedural following and getting the right to the deserving.

7. Taking suitable actions after information is received: If the information is received and there is some problems are identified in the case for which the information was taken then at this step as a good and responsible citizen students should guide the proper way to him about how to deal with it and what should be next to deal in the given situation. 8. Maintaining a good relationship with organizations working on RTI and implementation: Some Non-Governmental organizations are working tirelessly for the for the noble cause of delivery of RTI’s basic human right. Students actively participate in the campaigns and be a helping hand so their efforts can bore maximum fruit. In short students can be of pivotal importance if they are willing to work for the honorable cause of implementing RTI in its true sense. Their contributions are important and no one else is at this position to help and pave a way for the progress and prosperity. 6. CONCLUSION Four million people in India made use of the country’s Right to Information law in 201112. Out of all these cases, not a single Indian citizen was reported to have misused the law. By expressing concern about the RTI law, public sector officials often forget that even they are citizens of the state and can make use of this law. It is the need of the hour for a public awareness campaign to be launched about this law so that the people know their rights and once the law is enacted, make use of it. The media and civil society can play a vital role in this regard. I am hopeful that we will be able to learn from the Indian example and be able to set high levels of prosperity where no one can breach others’ fundamental human rights. May DI and Pakistan be blessed with prosperity.

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Sir Zahid Abdullah 0333-5214748