Heeralal Samariya Sworn In As Chief Information Commissioner

Relevance: GS2 - Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies. Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.

(Source: The Hindu , 11/07/2023)

Click here for Daily Current Affairs

Why in the news?

• Recently, retired IAS officer Heeralal Samariya was appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner by President Draupadi Murmu.
• The number of vacancies in the Central Information Commission has come down to 6 following the Supreme Court’s directive to fill all the vacancies in the Central and State Information Commissions.

Who is the new Chief Information Commissioner?

• Heeralal Samariya, a retired IAS officer of the 1985 batch, was appointed as the new Chief Information Commissioner.
• He has been a member of the Central Information Commission since November 7th, 2020.
• He became the first member of the Dalit community to be appointed to the post.
• He has previously served as the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, Joint Secretary Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, and Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Telangana.

Other appointments to the Central Information Commission

• Anandi Ramalingam and Vinod Kumar Tiwari were also sworn in as members of the Central Information Commission.
  • Ms. Ramalingam has been the Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Electronics Ltd.
  • Mr. Tiwari, a 1986 batch Indian Forest Service Officer, was previously Head of Force-cum-Principal Chief Conservator of Forests as Head of Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, Shimla.

Vacancies in the Central Information Commission

• In August 2023, petitioners in the Supreme Court revealed that no appointments had been made in eight months to fill up vacancies in the Central Information Commission.
• This was despite receiving 256 applications for the posts of information commissioners in the Central Information Commission (CIC), which was found to be already working below capacity.
• The appointment of the new Chief Information Commissioner and two Information Commissioners means that the number of vacancies in the body is six.

What did the Supreme Court say about the vacancies in Information Commissions?

• The Supreme Court directed the Union government and state governments to fill the vacancies in the Central and State Information Commissions respectively.
• The Court was hearing a petition alleging that the vacancies in the Information Commissions had put them at risk of redundancy.
• The Court agreed with the petitioners and claimed that the RTI Act is fast becoming a “dead letter law” as vacancies in the body had impaired its ability to decide petitions before it effectively.
• Therefore, action had to be taken urgently to ensure that the Commissions did not become “defunct” and citizens be deprived of the right to know.
• The Union government was given a three-week deadline to collect data from the States on the sanctioned strength of the Information Commissions as well as the vacancies (both existing and anticipated till March 31, 2024) and case pendency.
• The Supreme Court had previously directed the government to fill vacancies in the bodies in 2019.

What are the concerns related to the Central Information Commission?

• Transparency issues: The criteria for selecting Information Commissioners and the functioning of the Commissions suffer from a lack of transparency.
  • The Supreme Court has raised concerns about a bias towards appointing former bureaucrats, as this could affect the impartiality of the Commission.
• Inefficient management: Inefficient record management and data collection from field offices have led to long delays in processing RTI applications.
• Vacancies: Vacancies in the Information Commissions have not been promptly filled over the years which has resulted in a large backlog of pending cases.
  • This could potentially lead to the Commissions becoming dead letters.
• Capacity challenges: Concerns have also been raised about the lack of adequate and relevant knowledge of the Right to Information among CPIOs.
  • This has led to unnecessary delays in responding to applications and reaching decisions.
• Pendency concerns: Although there is a specified timeframe for processing First Appeals under the RTI Act, no such limits are specified for disposing of Second Appeals.
  • As a result, this leads to unnecessary delays in the functioning of the Commission.
• Poor quality: Critics have alleged that the information provided under the RTI Act has been of unsatisfactory quality, thereby compromising the rights of the citizens.
• Low public awareness: There is a lack of awareness about the RTI Act and Information Commissions among the public, particularly marginalized communities.

Conclusion

• The recent appointment to the Central Information Commission is a significant step in addressing the issues in the Central Information Commission. However, transparency, efficiency, and capacity challenges persist, which affects the Commission's ability to ensure transparency and accountability and uphold the citizens' right to information.

(*Click this link to read prelims specific weekly current affairs articles)

FAQs

MCQs

Question: How many of the following statements is/are correct about the Central Information Commission?

1. It is a statutory body constituted under the Right to Information Act.
2. A sitting Member of Parliament can be appointed as the CIC.
3. The Information Commissioners are not eligible for reappointment.

Codes:

(a) Only 1 statement

(b) Only 2 statements

(c) All 3 statements

(d) None of the above