An initiative of Transparency and Accountability at Local Level
Under the project “Enhancing the Capacities for Transparent and Accountable Local Governance”, a baseline assessment was conducted in all the project target districts, including Badin, Thatta and Karachi of Sindh province and Multan, Khanewal and Muzaffargarh of Punjab province. The objective of the baseline assessment was to know the perception of the CBOs and the local politicians on the Right to Information (RTI) / Freedom of Information (FOI) and District Budget Tracking and Accountability at local levels. In total 188 participants attended all the 18 FGDs wherein the ratio of males and females were 72% and 28% respectively. The baseline assessment was conducted from 28th May, 2015 to 5th June, 2015.
The study presents the findings to find out the gaps in implementation of RTI law and budget allocation and utilization on social sectors and to learn the best possible means to fill up these gaps. It highlights how the perception, understanding and acceptance of RTI by various groups including government departments, CSO, media, political leaders, other influential and the common citizens. It also speaks about the opinion and expected results of engaging public in budget making and implementation process. It talks about few of the possible ways suggested by the respondents to bring involvement of public in the budget process.