Provincial apathy leaves KP Right to Information Commission in limbo

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Commission (KPIC), established to oversee the performance of government departments in the province, has been rendered virtually dysfunctional due to the provincial government’s lack of interest.

The three-member commission has been operating with the Legal Commissioner’s post vacant for five years and the Civil Commissioner’s post unfilled for two year, resulting in a backlog of 1,460 cases.

According to sources, the KPIC has three commissioners — the Chief Commissioner, the Legal Commissioner and Civil Commissioner — and of them, the two slots being vacant.

Commission officials said that they have repeatedly reminded the provincial government and senior officials that the commission has almost become dysfunctional due to the vacant posts.

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Officials stated that the provincial government has frozen the commission’s budget at Rs47 million since 2022, leaving it struggling with financial constraints amid rising expenses and lacking sufficient funds to cover utility bills.

As a result, the World Bank-funded setup at the divisional level has also been done away with.

Top provincial government officials said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has instructed the information secretary and the provincial information adviser to take immediate steps to appoint new commissioners against the vacant posts.

They said that a meeting has been scheduled for October 18 to seek recommendations for the appointment of commissioners for the KPIC.