Many bureaucrats want to be Information Commissioner
17 Feb, 2012
The five posts of information commissioners in the Central Information Commission have drawn applications from many retired and serving bureaucrats apart from others. The job offers the pay and perks of a Supreme Court judge and fixed tenure of five-years. Of the 214 who applied, nine names have allegedly been shortlisted and forwarded to a high-powered selection panel comprising the Prime Minister, the leader of the opposition and Law Minister for approval. The selection meeting is yet to be scheduled.
* From the IPS: former Intelligence Bureau Head Rajiv Mathur and former BSF director general Raman Srivastava, Currently serving Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau O P S Malik and current Director General of National Human Rights Commission, Sunil Krishna.
* From the IAS: Food Secretary B C Gupta, Secretary of Department of Agriculture P K Basu, Secretary in the Law Ministry D R Meena and NHRC Secretary General Rajiv Sharma, former chairman, Railway Board Surendra Singh Khanna and former Road and Transport secretary, now an adviser Brahm Dutt.
* IRS: Former Central Board of Direct Taxes Mukesh Chandra Joshi, Current Chairman CBDT Mr. Laxman Das, who was Chief Commissioner of Income Tax in Delhi when applications were invited.
* Others: Journalists Satya Prakash, Law Kumar Mishra, Prakash N Bhargava and Sudhanshu Ranjan have applied. Former deputy comptroller and auditor general Rekha Gupta is also among the applicants. Former Secretary Alka Sirohi (who has now been named member of the UPSC) RTI Activist Subhash Chandra Agarwal, has also applied.
Earlier, a division bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw of Delhi High Court directed the Department of Personnel, which had set up a search panel headed by the Cabinet Secretary for the purpose, to complete the exercise and place the shortlisted names before the selection committee headed by the Prime Minister within a month.