Central Information Commission Appointments Info Won’t Be Shared By The Government
The government is not ready to share the hiring information of IC (Information Commissioners) for CIC (Central Information Commission). Since the year 2016, there are has been advertisements running for the hiring of new ICs for CIC. For several months from now, the CIC has shortlisted 4 new ICs on which they have refused to share their information.
In response to an RTI plea, the DOPT (Department of Personnel & Training) stated that the information related to the ICs won’t be shared under the rules of RTI. Aseem Takyar had filed the RTI plea to which the DOPT responded stating that the hiring information of the newly recruited ICs for Central Information Commission will not be disclosed at the current stage while exempting it under RTI act, section 8 (1)(i).
The RTI act under the above-mentioned section states that there is an exemption for the personal information disclosure. It further explains that the unwarranted invasion of privacy of an individual which has no relation to any public interest activity shall be exempted from disclosure.
The information activists mention that the constant efforts for getting the information on the newly recruited or hiring information of ICs are due to the silence of the authorities. Prior to this year, Lokesh Batra the retired commodore was denied for seeking the information on the matter from the Prime Minister’s office. R K Mathur, the CIC (Chief Information Commissioner) in the month of January had requested the Prime Minister’s Office for providing the information to Lokesh.
In the year 2016, August, after seeking approval from the PMO, the advertisement for hiring ICs for two positions came out in September that following year. Later, it was shown that 225 applicants applied for the two positions through an RTI plea. Lokesh stated that there have been nearly 18 months since the advertisement had come out for hiring on which they received 225 applications were posted but none have received appointments till now. Since the time of hiring announcement, 2 more ICs have been retired with no new recruitment. He further stated this will affect the system drastically.
