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.