Adhering to the Right to Information (RTI), the Legislature-Parliament of Nepal has done a laudable work to ease public access to the policy making level by providing all information about the bills and their amendment proposals under consideration in the Parliament. Journalist and Treasurer of freedom1 Forum Bishnu Sharma had sought the information on September 13, 2011 as per the RTI Act 2007 (2064BS). The 59-page information comprises the photocopies of various 14 bills which are under discussion in the Legislation Committee of the Parliament, and also the photocopies of the proposals the Constituent Assembly members submitted seeking the amendments of the bills. The information provided by Information Officer of the Legislature-Parliament, Ekram Giri, has the bills as Third Amendment Bill on Scholarship-2065, Nepal Electricity Regulation Commission Bill-2065, Bill Made on Amendment and Unification of the Laws on Electricity-2065, Bill on Duties and Responsibilities and Work Procedures of the National Human Rights Commission-2066, Bill on Sexual Harassment (Elimination) at Workplace-2066, Bagmati Civilization Development Council Bill-2066, Bill on Amendment and Unification of Laws on Bank and Financial Institutions-2066, Road Board (First Amendment) Bill-2066, Bill on Management of Truth and Reconciliation Commission-2066, Bill on Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Development Fund-2066, Bill on Enforced Disappearance of People (Crime and Punishment)-2066, Bill on Establishment of the National Dalit Rights Commission-2066, and Bill on Real Estate-2065. Rs 1,759 was charged to receive these information. freedom1 Forum extends gratitude to the Legislature-Parliament for maintaining transparency and responsibility by providing information of public interest/concern to the information seeker as per the RTI Act.
Freedom Forum is a prominent non-governmental organization in Nepal dedicated to institutionalizing democracy, protecting and promoting human rights, press freedom, freedom of expression, right to information, promoting audit accountability, open and accountable budget, public finance reforms, citizen engagement in public finance management and citizen participation in audit. Established in February 2005, the organization emerged in response to the political turmoil following Former King Gyanendra’s coup dated February 1, 2005, which imposed severe restrictions on media and democratic rights. A group of media professionals, legal experts, and academics founded Freedom Forum to safeguard Nepal’s hard-earned democratic freedoms during this repressive period.
