Manipur State Information Commission non-functional for nearly a year
23 Sep, 2013The Manipur State Information Commission (SIC) set up to cater to appeals and complaints, has been defunct for almost a year. In October 2012, the commission became redundant because of the State Government's failure to appoint the State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioner.
The last Chief Information Commissioner of the SIC, Mr. RK Angousana retired from service on September 12, 2012. Subsequently, the only remaining Information Commissioner Ch Birendra too retired on March 31, 2013. Due to the defunct SIC, the channels for obtaining information from Government departments have come to a naught.
In the absence of the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioner in the SIC, all its functions and activities have come to a standstill though the citizens continue to pour in appeals. It is noteworthy that the situation is similar in many other state information commissions across the country.