Three-day training on Right to Information (RTI) organized by freedom1 Forum for the executive officers and information officers of different five municipalities concluded successfully in Lalitpur on July 27, 2013. Speaking at the concluding session of the training, Chairman of the Administrative Court, Kashi Raj Dahal, said that the RTI was introduced in Nepal based on international experience that the use of RTI has helped curb corruption and boost people's lifestyle. Although the implementation of the RTI was not that satisfactory in our country, it was gradually gaining ground, he said, urging the participants to translate RTI into practice and smoothen the public service delivery. The RTI would help ensure people friendly local governance and use of discretion, he added. On the occasion, FF Chairman Taranath Dahal said that the training might have catered knowledge and skills to the executive officers and information officers of the municipalities to make public service more effective. RTI would be an effective tool to disseminate information through the local agencies, he added. Moreover, he pointed out a need to adopt a digital technology in the local agencies for the effective record management. Under Secretary at the National Vigilance Centre, Sher Bahadur Dhungana, Under Secretary at Finance Ministry Bhumi Ram Sharma and others had presented working papers at the programme. The participants expressed commitment that they would put into practice that the knowledge and skills they gained during the programme. The training was attended by 12 persons- each two (Information Officer and Executive Officer) from Bhimdutta municipality of Kanchanpur, a district in the southern plain of the far western region, Narayan municipality of Dailekh, a hilly district of the same region, Byas municipality from Tanahu, a hilly district of the western region, Dhulikhel municipality of Kavre, a district adjoining to the Kathmandu Valley, and Dharan municipality of Sunsari, a district in the southern plain of the eastern Nepal.
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.
