Bangladesh has been ranked a below average country in the ‘open government index-2015’ that defines the level of transparency in governance.
The country has been placed at 73rd position among 102 nations, according to the index prepared by Washington-based World Justice Project.
Bangladesh has scored less than half (0.47) of the full marks allocated in four categories for measuring the openness.
Three countries that are at the bottom of the list are Myanmar (100), Uzbekistan (101), and Zimbabwe (102). The top three countries are Sweden (1), New Zealand (2), and Norway (3).
In South Asia, India is at the top (37th rank globally) followed by Nepal (40th rank), Sri Lanka (52), Bangladesh (73), Pakistan (83) and Afghanistan (89).
The open government index 2015 is the first effort to measure government openness based on the general public’s experiences and perceptions worldwide.
It has taken into consideration following dimensions of government openness: (a) publicised laws and government data, (b) right to information, (c) civic participation, and (d) complaint mechanisms.
Bangladesh has scored 0.45 in publicised laws and government data, 0.51 in right to information, 0.49 in civic participation and 0.44 in complaint mechanisms.
In the survey on the voice of people, conducted to prepare the index, it was found that only 31 percent said the political parties can freely express their opinions against the government’s policies and actions. The same is the percentage for the civil society in speaking out against the government’s policies and actions.
The percentage is even lower for the media – only 28 percent respondents said the TV, radio and newspapers can freely express their opinions against the government policies and actions.
Source: Prothom Alo
