A Study on Effectiveness and Challenges of Implementation of Right to Information in Nepal: A Lesson Learnt from Acts on Disclosure of Information by Public Agencies, Korea

Abstract

This research paper is a comparative study of different dimensions of Right to Information between Nepal and Korea. According to various indicators, regarding corruption, governance and socio-economy, produced by different international organizations, Nepals status seems very critical. These indicators clearly show the picture of integrity, transparency and application of rule of law, which are very weak and vulnerable in Nepal. In the other hand even though Korea, still, is not recognized as a fully clean country regarding application of transparency and integrity, even if she has made a remarkable progress on this issue and far ahead compared to Nepal. Regarding openness, governance and transparency she is relatively more successful and therefore, of course there are many lessons to be learnt from the experience of policy implementation of Korea. This research is focused on implementation part of Right to information policy, laws, strategies and cases of both countries. The research has also focused on comparing public officers knowledge, ideas and system of both countries. Effectiveness of public policy implementation also depends on information flowing system and peoples awareness in this regards. Analyzing global corruption index and its frameworks in a comparative manner are used here to analyze in order to find the causes of lesser effectiveness in Nepalese context. Also, this research analyzes the commonalities and differences between the two countries legal provisions including right to information related constitutional and legal provisions. It has focused on some key areas on how to strengthen the Nepalese provisions to consolidate rule of law, encourage integrity, adopt openness, and build transparency. The ultimate goal of this research is to suggest government of Nepal to implement and adopt openness by properly implementing the RIA as Korea has been practicing since her long struggle to democratization. Transparency requirements that have been imposed across the last twenty years are now seen as less trustworthy, and, are apparently less trusted than they were before the requirements were introduced. How to develop trustworthiness in national system and national affairs is the vital concern of Nepal in this time. There is no doubt about the requirement of transparency in public and professional systems. And corporate lives have been greatly increased in many parts of the world. Open government is also the guiding principle of freedom of information act, 2007, whose purpose is to make provision for disclosure of information held by public authorities or by person providing services. Government, corporations, and, their critics seemingly converge in seeing transparency as indispensable for accountability and good governance, for preventing corruption and improving performance, and for increasing trustworthiness and trust. There is quite a large measure of consensus about the way that transparency is supposed to work. It is supposed to discipline the institutions and the office-holders by making information about their performance more public. Publicity is taken to deter corruption and poor performance, and to secure a basis for ensuring better performance and more trustworthy performance. Government needs to focus its activities on public awareness, civil service capacity building, adaptation of ICT, private sector whistling, and decentralization of policy approaches. To enhance open, transparent and democratic governance in the country, the government of Nepal needs to come with the result based policy implementation system. The policy making process also should be open and transparent. Finally, the research concludes with conceptual development which includes effective policy implementation tools for developing countries. For the effective policy implementation trust sides awareness, responsible sides capacity development, information management and institutional development are recommended as the basic tools. Not only Nepal, other developing countries also have the same problems of policy management

so the conceptual development of this research would be helpful to think in this regard.