Call to fill the vacant posts of the information commissioners in SIC
18 Jan, 2014
The chief information commissioner of the State Information Commission (SIC) Mr. Ratnakar Gaikwad has requested the governor K Sankaranarayanan to push the government to fill the vacant posts of the information commissioners. In a letter to the governor, Mr. Gaikwad has pointed out that four of the seven regional information commissions in the Maharashtra have been headless-in Greater Mumbai, Konkan, Nagpur and Amravati-for the last three years. The letter further points out that the Pune information chief is seriously ill and hence effectively, there are five vacant posts. The letter reads "Maharashtra is the pioneer in RTI and today it is a sorry state of affairs. Nearly 30,000 appeals and over 3,000 complaints are pending. People have to wait as long as two years for justice using the Act."
Referring to the statistics, the communication says "Nearly seven lakh RTI queries are filed and 25,000 appeals cleared every year. I have written to the CM on several occasions urging him to fill up the posts; I don't know why it is not being done."
Critics have pointed to the need for the appointment of information commissioners for the speedy disposal of cases. With vacancies mounting in most of the states, action is required at the level of the chief minister, and the Opposition leader.