Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Delay in appointing CIC - Amandeep Singh

Kashmir Times: Srinagar: Wednesday, 22 October 2014.
The Right to Information Act is under threat once again! This time due to the Government not appointing a Chief Information Commissioner. How can the Central Information Commission (CIC), responsible for adjudicating RTI appeals, function effectively without a Chief Information Commissioner? For the first time since the landmark legislation was passed in 2005, there is no Chief Information Commissioner in the CIC. The post has remained vacant since August 22, 2014.
This massive delay in appointing a new Chief is severely hampering the working of the Information Commission. There is already a huge backlog in the Commission with close to 25,000 appeals and complaints pending. This ever-increasing backlog of cases challenges the citizen’s fundamental Right to Information and creates roadblocks in fighting corruption, big and small.
The BJP which cashed in on ‘anti-corruption’ slogan and the innumerable scams of the Congress to win the elections seems to have forgotten its quest for transparency soon after winning the elections. The headless Information Commission is an example. How then can such a key institution to fight corruption remain rudderless? One reason offered by the government for the delay is that there is no Leader of Opposition. However, the RTI Act clearly states that in the absence of a recognised Leader of Opposition, the leader of the single largest opposition party should be part of the committee to appoint the new chief.
The RTI Act is one of the most empowering legislations for citizens and there are millions of examples from across the country on how people have successfully used RTI to hold the government accountable. The government should, therefore, immediately begin the process to appoint a Chief Information Commissioner without further delay.