PM-Led committee likely to meet tomorrow to select new CIC
New Delhi, Dec 9:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said no innocent Indian should face harassment or inconvenience due to any law or rule, and such measures should always be for the convenience of the common people.
Addressing an NDA parliamentary party meeting here, Modi also said reforms should be brought in all aspects of society and not just in the economy.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, which was attended by all NDA MPs, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said Prime Minister Modi gave very good guidelines for the lawmakers.
The PM said no Indian should face any inconvenience as a citizen and everyone must ensure that rules and regulations are for the convenience of the common people and improve their lives, he said.
“The prime minister said laws should not be a burden for anyone but should be for people’s convenience. Rules and regulations must be for improving the system, not to harass people. There should be no law which
Laws must be for
harasses people without any reason,” Rijiju said. He said Modi told all NDA MPs that they should work together to accelerate development works at triple the speed and connect with youths, sports and other activities.
At the outset of the meeting, Rijiju said, Modi was felicitated for the NDA’s massive victory in the recent Bihar elections.
Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and J P Nadda, who is also the BJP president, were among those present at the meeting held at the Parliament House complex here.
Modi was garlanded by JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha and Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha — both Rajya Sabha members.
In the 243-member Bihar Assembly, which went to polls last month, the NDA secured 202 seats, paving the way for JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar to return as chief minister for the 10th time.
Among the alliance partners, BJP won 89 seats, JD(U) 85, LJP (Ram Vilas) 19, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) five, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha four. A three-member committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is likely to meet on Wednesday to decide the next Chief Information Commissioner and information commissioners for eight vacant positions at the Central Information Commission (CIC).
The government had informed the Supreme Court on December 1 that the Prime Minister Modi-led panel is likely to meet on December 10 to select and recommend names for these posts.
Under Section 12 (3) of the Right to Information Act, the prime minister is the chairperson of the committee, which also comprises the leader of opposition and a Union minister nominated by the prime minister, that selects and recommends the names for appointment as Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners.
According to the RTI Act, the CIC has a Chief Information Commissioner and 10 Information Commissioners who adjudicate complaints and appeals filed by the RTI applicants against the unsatisfactory orders of government officials on their applications.
The CIC, which is staring at 30,838 pending cases, according to its website, is left with just two information commissioners — Anandi Ramalingam and Vinod Kumar Tiwari — with eight vacancies.
The highest appellate authority to adjudicate RTI-related complaints and appeals had gone headless for the seventh time since 2014 after incumbent Chief Information Commissioner Heeralal Samariya demitted office on September 13.
The Commission had become headless for the first time after then CIC Rajiv Mathur demitted office in August 2014.
Samariya, who had become the Chief Information Commissioner on November 6, 2023, demitted office on attaining the age of 65 years, according to an office order issued by the Commission.
In an RTI response to activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (retired), the Department of Personnel and Training had said that 83 applications were received for the post of Chief Information Commissioner in response to its advertisement issued on May 21.
It also said that 161 applications were received in response to an advertisement issued on August 14, 2024, for the vacancies against the post of Information Commissioners in the CIC.
According to the procedure for the appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner, particulars of interested persons are invited through advertisements in newspapers and through the DoPT website.
These details are tabulated by DoPT and sent to a Search Committee constituted by the Prime Minister and chaired by the Cabinet Secretary.
The names as well as the shortlisted ones along with their applications are sent to the committee headed by the Prime Minister and also comprising the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and a Cabinet minister.
Persons recommended by the prime minister-led committee are appointed by the President.
