The President's Office disclosed only 38 percent of the information required to be published annually under proactive disclosure mandates of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Information Commissioner Ahid Rasheed has revealed.
On May 7, Ahid expressed concern over the government's failure to disclose information mandated by the Act. Following his remarks, government ministries have begun updating their websites.
According to statistics shared by Ahid, state institutions have disclosed an average of 34 percent of required information. Among these, the President's Office has only met 38 percent of the legal disclosure standards.
The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense lead the rankings, being the only three ministries to achieve a disclosure rate above 50 percent.
At the bottom of the list are the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Youth, and the Ministry of Arts. The Ministry of Arts has failed to disclose any of the required information.
Under the law, information that must be disclosed in the public interest includes details of individual staff salaries and allowances, the institution's allocated budget, planned projects, projected and actual expenditure details, and the responsibilities, duties, and legal powers of senior officials.
Ahid previously noted that the majority of complaints regarding the lack of information stem from the government’s failure to provide any response at all.
Statistics released by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICOM) for the past year show that out of 712 complaints filed, the vast majority—487 cases—were related to requests that received no response.
The President's Office remains one of the institutions with the highest number of complaints filed against it. In addition to failing to respond to many requests, the office has also faced criticism for delays in providing information even after being ordered to do so by ICOM.
