The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICOM) has announced that all 16 government ministries have published the full range of information required under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, marking the first time since the legislation came into force in 2014 that every ministry has achieved full compliance with proactive disclosure requirements.
The RTI Act requires government institutions to publish information across 13 categories, including budget allocations, planned projects, projected and actual expenditures, employee salaries and allowances, and the rules and procedures governing their operations. The information must be disclosed at least annually, or more frequently when deemed necessary in the public interest.
For several years, Information Commissioner Ahid Rasheed has raised concerns over ministries failing to meet these obligations. As recently as last month, he reported that no ministry had fully complied with the disclosure requirements, although several ministries had begun publishing additional information in recent weeks.
In a post on X on Sunday, Ahid stated that ministries had previously disclosed only 34 per cent of the information required under proactive disclosure provisions. He confirmed that all ministries have now published 100 per cent of the required information.
The President’s Office has also completed its mandatory disclosures. Ahid welcomed the achievement and commended the efforts of both the ministries and the President’s Office, while noting that further work remains necessary to ensure transparency is maintained.
He called on agencies operating under the ministries to verify that all required information has been published and kept up to date. He also urged public institutions to comply fully with the RTI Act by responding promptly to information requests submitted by the public.
Despite the improvement in proactive disclosure, concerns remain regarding the handling of RTI requests. According to statistics released by the Information Commissioner’s Office last year, 487 of the 712 complaints received were related to agencies failing to respond to information requests.
The President’s Office accounted for the largest number of such complaints. The Information Commissioner’s Office itself also faced criticism in some instances for delays in providing requested information.
The issue of access to information has been the subject of public debate in recent months. Earlier this year, Ali Ihusaan stated that providing information under the RTI Act involved significant costs. Last month, Ahmed Usham said the legislation was being abused under the guise of access to information.
Both remarks drew criticism from transparency advocates and members of the public. In response to Usham’s comments, Ahid said he had not observed any evidence of abuse of the RTI Act.
The latest disclosures represent a significant milestone in the implementation of the RTI Act, which was introduced to strengthen transparency, accountability and public access to government information.
