On March 29, the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) issued a call for urgent legal and institutional reforms to the Sindh Transparency and Right to Information Act (STRIA) of 2016, highlighting structural and implementation deficiencies that hinder its effectiveness.
The policy brief, entitled ‘Closing the Information Gap: The Case for Reforming the Sindh Transparency and Right to Information Act, 2016’, is part of FAFEN’s campaign against misinformation, titled ‘Countering Disinformation through Reliable Government Information’. This initiative emphasises the critical role of robust Right to Information (RTI) frameworks in combating misinformation, which is increasingly prevalent and contributes to political polarisation in Pakistan.
Despite constitutional guarantees under Article 19A, the implementation of STRIA has been weak. An assessment conducted by FAFEN in 2025 reviewed 61 public bodies in Sindh, revealing that on average, these bodies met only 54% of the law’s proactive disclosure requirements. The report highlighted several operational shortcomings, such as vague legal definitions, inadequate digitalisation of RTI processes, and the lack of mandatory compliance reports from public bodies.
Compounding these issues, the majority of public bodies have not appointed Public Information Officers or made their contact information available online, severely restricting public access to information. Moreover, only a small fraction of these bodies has maintained records of RTI applications and the subsequent actions taken, which are essential for self-enforcement of the Act.
The policy brief suggests a series of reforms to address these deficiencies. Key recommendations include the clarification of legal definitions to broaden the law’s scope, mandating annual compliance reports from public bodies, and introducing protections for whistleblowers to reinforce internal accountability. Additionally, FAFEN advocates for the adoption of digital systems to manage RTI requests and complaints, which would improve efficiency and transparency.
FAFEN also calls for a transparent and consultative process in appointing Information Commissioners and proposes enhanced financial autonomy for the Sindh Information Commission through a dedicated fund.
The brief stresses that without these reforms, the vacuum created by the absence of official information could continue to be filled by speculation, rumours, and deliberate misinformation, undermining public trust in governmental institutions.
