Kathmandu, December 27
Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki has said
that the right to information is essential for sustainable peace, good governance and
development of the country.
Inaugurating the National Symposium on ‘Women’s Participation in the Right to Information:
Challenges and Opportunities’ organized by the National Information Commission today, she
urged to implement the right to information from their respective places. “The country needs
lasting peace, good governance and development. For that, contribution from one’s own place
is necessary, right to information is also necessary and indispensable.” Minister Karki said.
He said that the right to information was needed to strengthen the state and its citizens by
informing them and the program for the upliftment of women was also moving ahead after the
advent of democracy.
Chairperson of the National Commission for Women Kamala Parajuli stressed on the need for
women to pay special attention to information as the person with information is the most
powerful. He said that the political parties have a big role to play in making the information of
the state known to all and the people’s representatives at the local level would play a major
role in this.
Chief Commissioner of the National Information Commission Mahendra Man Gurung said that
the seminar was organized with the objective of increasing the participation of women in the
field of information. Urging all to exercise their right to information to make every function of
the state transparent, he said that only 17 women had lodged a complaint with the commission
last year to exercise their right to information.
At the seminar, Commissioner Kamala Oli presented a program on women’s participation,
challenges and opportunities in the field of information. UN Women Program Chief Santosh
Acharya and former Chairperson of the Media Group Babita Basnet also spoke on the occasion.
Journalist Basnet said that in the draft committee formed for the formation of the commission
in 2064 BS, when he got the opportunity to work in the commission, he made it clear that there
was a need for a woman in the commission. Participants in the program suggested that every
information of the state should be known to all and that the right to information program
should be implemented all over the country and for that it is necessary to cooperate with other
stakeholders.
By Muna Chand
