Delay in filling up posts crippling CIC

Times of India: Puducherry: Wednesday, June 20, 2018.

The delay in filling up vacancies in the central information commission, New Delhi, has been largely seen as an attempt by the Union government to paralyse the functioning of the commission (over 24,000 backlog of appeals are pending) and to deny information to applicants, including RTI activists, thereby preventing them from exposing malpractices in the administration.

At present, four of the total 10 information commissioner posts are vacant in the central information commission headed by the chief information commissioner. Three more information commissioner posts and the chief information commissioner post will fall vacant by this year-end.

An RTI query by journalism student Saurav Das exposed that the department of personnel and training has neither taken any concrete measures to fill up the existing vacancies nor initiated efforts to advertise for other positions that will fall vacant by the year-end.

Central public information officer and under-secretary (personnel and training) Rajbir Singh, while replying to Das’ query, said the department had initiated the process of appointing two information commissioners (whose tenures ended in December 2016 and February 2017) in August 2016 and published an advertisement on the department’s website.

However, the department, which received 225 applications, delayed the selection process for more than one year. Finally, after a prolonged delay, it sent the file to the cabinet secretary four months ago. The file has been pending with the cabinet secretary since then, Das said.

Singh admitted that the department had not initiated any selection process for two more information commissioner posts that fell vacant in September last year and January this year.

Also, Das said, the department had not even published an advertisement seeking applications from eligible candidates for the vital posts in the commission.

Chief information commissioner R K Mathur and three more information commissioners Yashovardhan Azad, M S Acharyulu and Amitava Bhattacharya will retire before the year end. Mathur, Azad and Acharyulu will retire in November, while Bhattacharya will retire in December that will leave the body not only headless but only with just three information commissioners as against the sanctioned strength of 10, thus crippling its activities.

The delay in filling up the vacancies has led to a huge backlog of appeals (roughly more than 24,000 cases pending). At present, the commission is hearing the appeals filed more than a year ago.

RTI activists charged that the government in a bid to discourage RTI applications has now proposed to amend the RTI Act without adhering to the ‘pre-legislative consultation policy’ that mandates seeking public opinion before drafting any amendments to the existing acts.

RTI activist Anjali Bhardwaj charged that delay in filling up vacancies was one of the ways to weaken the commission and render the RTI Act toothless.

“If the government is serious about fighting corruption and having a strong transparency regime, it must make the appointments immediately,” Bhardwaj said.