Kathmandu, Sept 1, Kathmandu, Sept 1 (RSS): Speaker of the Karnali State Assembly, Raj Bahadur Shahi, has said the Karnali State was adopting the measures to make the parliament open and transparent. The State government has made website to disclose information about its activities, he reminded.
During a programme held on ‘open parliament: concept and practices’ in the State capital, Surkhet, recently, Speaker Shahi reminded that the parliament and the government were committed to setting up the media centre. As he said, the formation of parliamentary journalists association had been useful to relay the information on parliamentary activities.
Chief Secretary of the State government, Kebal Bhandari, viewed the discussion should be held in almost all issues while framing budget. “Very few things are kept secret for a short time, so openness in budget making is possible and practical,” he observed, adding that efforts were underway to gradually address journalists’ concern on better facility for parliamentary reporting.
He urged the journalists to use right to information in a way it would bring change. The reporters to various media demanded the State government to expedite the establishment of media centre, so that it could be easy for them to report on government activities and decisions. Similarly, advocate Rama Pyakurel said the concepts of open parliament and open government were important issues at present.
Once they are enforced, citizens’ access to parliament would increase and help ensure open parliament, she added. At the programme attended by the lawmakers, government officials, media persons, academia and advocates, Freedom Forum Executive Chief Taranath Dahal observed that parliament was the forum for discussion on public issues, concern and policy and law making.
The active and open parliament was therefore essential to duly perform the legislative and oversight functions in addition to the representation, he stressed. According to him, people, procedure, physical infrastructure and data/information could be utilized effectively to ensure open parliament. Similarly, journalist Krishna Sapkota, stressed open government would be helpful to build reliable partnership between government and civil society.
Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a global initiative to promote ‘listening government’ and good governance, he said, adding that OGP could be a significant forum in Nepal for realizing the elevated level of interaction needed between civil society and government. He argued that Nepal was already eligible to become the member of the global initiative in terms of the assessment criteria of access to information law, fiscal transparency practices, asset disclosure and citizen engagement.
The programme was organized by Freedom Forum in a bid to whet discussion open parliament and help ensure citizen’s participation in the law and policy making. The State lawmakers present in the event were Pushpa Gharti Bista (Deputy Speaker), Dharma Regmi, Yagya Bahadur BC, Thaneswor Bahadur Bista, Aman Thapa, Sushil Kumar Thapa, Amrita Shahi, Sita Nepali and Raju Nepali.
