Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) urged investigative journalists to widely exercise the Right to Information (RTI) Act for filing reports.
Shujan, in assiociation with Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and The Hunger Project (THP), organised a workshopon at Apon Uddog Foundation building in the city on Friday.
The speakers at the workshopon titled 'Use of RTI in Journalism' urged the journalists to practice the strong tool for filing reports, reports UNB.
“The fitting of such a people-friendly law into the current bureaucratic structure and culture is a big challenge,” Former Chief Information Commissioner Golam Rahman said.
Right to information is a citizen's right and its acknowledgment means their development, he said.
Mentioning that journalists do not exercise the law much in the country, Mr Rahman underscored the need for changing the mindset and culture of hiding information to boost the practice and ensure accountability and arrest corruption.
He also said private institutions dealing with public money such as private educational institutions, banks and clinics should also be brought under the purview of the law.
Shujan Secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, also Country Director and Global Vice President of THP, said there are many information in different sectors which needs to be looked for and the RTI Act can play a strong role in this regard.
Renowned journalist Mizanur Rahman Khan said it is not possible to ensure freedom of speech having a weak democratic practice.
Information Commission Director Dr Abdul Hakim and RTI activist Biplab Karmakar also spoke on the occasion.
Indian RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak, journalist Kumar Sambhav Srivastava and CHRI Director Sanjoy Hazarika also joined the workshop through videoconferencing and shared their experiences of using RTI Act in India.
