http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.

com/2015/09/19/108511
VOL 22 NO 304 REGD NO DA 1589 | Dhaka, Saturday, September 19 2015

Benefits of proactive information disclosure

M. S. Siddiqui
The implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) law is a significant tool for ensuring transparency, accountability, good governance,
democracy, participation and the like. Disclosing information about the decision-making process, decisions and actions forces governments to be
more accountable and less corrupt.
The disclosure may be re-active (upon request) and proactive (voluntary). Proactive disclosure makes information available to the public rather
than to the few applicants. Citizens need to be informed about the services that its government is providing. The RTI law makes mandatory the
proactive and reactive action to deliver necessary information to the general people. This not only benefits the individual who needs access to
these services, but is also a way for governments to display the tangible steps it is taking for its citizens.
Proactive disclosure is also important to foster citizen participation in the decision-making process across all levels of government. People are
less informed of services and benefits that government provides to people. Those are usually shared by some fortunate people close to
governments. By giving the public the information they need to take part in these processes, decisions and policies are more likely to benefit them
and less likely to be hi-jacked by the associates of politicians and bureaucrats.
Proactive disclosure is also a more efficient means of disclosing information than processing individual information requests both in terms of the
number of people it reaches and the public administration burden.
Information about policy, decision and action will encourage the people's participation in all government actions. Winning the hearts of the
citizens by meeting with them regularly and ultimately gaining their trust and friendship may be the only way that regulating authorities can
promote new policies in communities where anti-government sentiment runs high. With citizen participation, formulated policies might be more
realistically grounded in citizen's preferences; the public might become more sympathetic evaluators of the tough decisions that government
administrators have to make.
There are several benefits to governments disclosing their information proactively. Proactive disclosure plays a significant and practical role in
the rule of law. It ensures that the public knows and understands the laws and policies that it must abide by.
Disclosure of information about government actions and spending puts government and public officials under the constant watch of the public,
allowing them to track what resources are spent, who contracts are awarded to and so on.
When designing proactive disclosure systems or voluntary disclosure has five principles governments should follow. Information needs to be:
available, findable, comprehensible, low cost or free, up-to-date and relevant.
To make information available, governments can and should publish information in multiple formats. Information can be published via both print
and broadcast media, notice boards, leaflets, public meetings, on websites and via mobile phones.
The user needs to be able to find information easily. This should influence how information is disseminated, such as whether it should be
displayed on a central web-portal or by department or sector. Information should be comprehensible and presented clearly in all official, national
languages. It should also be accessible for a range of disabilities. In countries where literacy levels are low, alternative ways of displaying
information should be considered, such as audio-visual methods. All electronic information should be free. Hard copy formats of core classes of
information should also be free. And any other information in hard copy format should at least be reasonably priced. Information often has an
expiry date so it needs to be timely and correct, otherwise it has limited value.
Information, in electronic or hard-copy format, needs to be dated so that the public know how current that information is. Digital platforms need
to be designed so that information can be systematically and regularly up-dated. The classes of information should have value to the end user and
need to be presented to them in a meaningful way: information should be relevant. In this sense, governments need to consider the multiplicity of
potential users. This is why consultation with civil society, businesses, educational and other institutions is important.
Many governments in developing and developed countries have examples of proactive disclosures and benefits of those lead to transparent and
efficient governance. Publishing information around procurement also increases efficiency in spending because openness in contracts and prices
can generate competition. This is being done in Chile where transparency is considered an important factor in driving economic growth in the

country's post-Pinochet tenure.

The Chilean government established an electronic public procurement system, ChileCompra in 2003, to increase transparency in state spending.
In 2006, all public bodies were required to disclose information on contracts - amongst other information such as public spending and recruitment
of officers and employees etc. In France, the LegiFrance is an in-depth resource for French, European and international laws, norms and
regulations. It also publishes news updates on the relevant legislation and online versions of France's Official Journal.
The South African government has established a network of 165 Thusong Centres with the explicit aim to bring government information and
services closer to the people to promote access to opportunities as a basis for improved livelihoods. The centres are distributed across the country
including in more remote, rural areas. In a country where only 12.3 per cent of the populations have access to the Internet, Thusong centres are an
innovative means for supplying information on government services, decisions and policies out to the public in both urban and rural areas. 20 per
cent of the centres do not have Internet connectivity because of a lack of infrastructure, and this emphasises the importance of the centres and the
need to disclose information using more traditional formats. Thusong centres are identical to Union Parishad centres in Bangladesh.
In Canada, for example, proactive disclosure of public registers and civil servants' private earnings and expenses is written in law. In 2003, senior
government officials were required to publish all travel and hospitality expenses. Publication of all contracts over CA$10,000 and grants and
contributions over CA$25,000 is also required. This information can be accessed via the Treasury Board of the Canada Secretariat.
In Croatia, civil society groups created a citizen, user-friendly version of the state budget. Croatia's Ministry of Finance has now adopted this
version and altered the way in which it presents its information.
Right mechanisms also need to be in place to enforce public disclosure obligations and to monitor levels of proactive disclosure. Information
officers or information commissions are used in several countries including Mexico and India, and they have oversight of provisions on proactive
disclosure. These bodies should have the power to undertake independent investigations, to deal with complaints, to monitor levels of disclosure
and to order appropriate action to ensure compliance.
Finally, proactively publishing information gives a greater understanding of the society that it seeks to inform. It allows other actors - such as
academic institutions or other civil society institutions - to re-use information, build on it and to generate more information. Open data initiatives
are an effective way of re-using and interpreting those in ways that are relevant to the public. This information in turn can be used by public
bodies to be informed about decisions and policies and has significant political value in any democracy where votes are gained through
measurable progress and policies that react to citizens' needs.
The relevant authorities in Bangladesh have legal obligations of proactive disclosure of certain information to the citizens. The Right To
Information law of Bangladesh Sec .6(1) states that every authority shall publish and publicise all information pertaining to any decision taken,
proceeding or activity executed or proposed by indexing them in such a manner as may easily be accessible to the citizens; (2) In publishing and
publicising information under sub-section (1) no authority shall conceal any information or limit its access; (3) Every authority shall publish a
report every year which shall contain the following information -- (a) particulars of its organisational structure, activities, responsibility of the
officers and employees, and description and process of decision making; (b) lists of all the laws, acts, ordinances, rules, regulations, notifications,
directives, manuals of and classification of all information lying with the authority; (c) description of the terms and conditions under which a
citizen may get service from the authorities in obtaining any license, permit, grant, consent, approval or other benefits and of such conditions that
require the authority to make transactions or enter into agreements with him; (d) particulars of facilities ensuring right to information and the full
name and designation, address, and in cases where applicable, fax number and e-mail address of the assigned officer; (4) if the authority frames
any policies or takes any important decision, it shall publish all such polices and decisions and if necessary explain the reasons and causes in
support of such policies and decisions; (5) The report prepared by the authority under this section shall, free of charge, be made available for
public information and its copies shall be shocked for the sale at nominal price; (6) All publications made by the authority shall be made easily
available to public at a reasonable price; (7) The authority shall publish and publicise the matters of public interest through press note or through
any other means. (8) The Information Commission shall, by regulations, frame instructions to be followed by the authorities for publishing,
publicising and obtaining information and all the authorities shall follow them.

The writer is a Legal Economist

shah@banglachemcial.com