A complaint has been filed at the National Information Commission (NIC) calling for providing easy access to the general public to Singha Durbar, the central government secretariat complex. Right to information campaigner and chairman of the freedom1 Forum, Taranath Dahal, filed the complaint with NIC demanding that information of direct public concern and importance with the different government bodies inside the central government secretariat should be made public. Dahal has stated in the complaint that the members of the general public do not have easy access to seek service as well as information of their and public concern from the public offices and also to express their concern, views and participation in policy planning and programmes. The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Parliament Secretariat also have been informed of the filing of the complaint. Dahal said one has to seek the help of middlemen, the leaders and cadres of political parties and government employees even to enter the Singha Durbar, which has constricted even the fundamental right of a citizen to get information. The members of the general public are allowed entry to Singha Durbar only from the southern gate after taking permission from any of the offices inside the complex and depositing one's citizenship card at certain time. More than two dozen ministries including the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the National Planning Commission, the Parliament Secretariat, Radio Nepal and Nepal Television and other departments, offices as well as temporary commissions, task forces and committee secretariats are located inside the Singha Durbar complex. (Source: The National News Agency, RSS, 27 March 2016)
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.
