RTI Act comes into force

The Right to Information (RTI) Act came into force in Sri Lanka, a piece of legislation aimed at restoring transparency and good governance in a country that has been plagued by corruption and misrule.

The government had last week gazetted the categories of public authorities that fall within the purview of the RTI.

“From today the public can apply for information which they want,” Sankhitha Gunaratne, RTI Manager of Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) said.

The authorities are bound to respond to these requests as per the specified guidlines, within a maximum period of 28 days. (PTI)

TISL said it will be filing several public interest RTI requests with the relevant public authorities, seeking information like that pertaining to the assets and liabilities declarations of the President and the Prime Minister and a request for financial reports of political parties.