Hyderabad: Finding fault with selection of
Information Commissioners in Andhra Pradesh, RTI activists have urged the Governor to reject the names recommended by a panel, contenting that these people have actively participated
in politics.
The selection panel, comprising Chief Minister N Kiran
Kumar Reddy and Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu among
others, had recently selected eight persons as the Information
Commissioners.
Noting that some of the selected persons had actively
participated in politics, former Union Home Secretary K
Padmanabhaiah said the selection of such persons is not
correct as the RTI Act mandates that eminent persons in a
variety of fields be picked for the statutory posts.
"We are not exactly on the merits of who have been
selected. We are more on the question of the process followed.
Our argument is that it is not fair to pick political persons
when the law gives a wide scope for selection," he said.
Padmanabhaiah, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary K
Madhava Rao, retired IAS officer V K Srinivasan and several
other information activists met the Governor today under the
banner of United Forum for RTI Campaign.
"There is a bar under law that people to be considered
(for the post) should not be connected with politics. Till
recently, three of them were in politics. They contested
elections and lost," Padmanabhaiah said.
"The prescription is they must be eminent in public
life. They must have wide knowledge and experience in certain
fields like law, management and social work. What is the
criteria to decide that they are eminent?" he asked.
Padmanabhaiah alleged that the process of selection of
the Information Commissioners lacked transparency as it is not
known how many candidates were actually considered.
The Governor gave a patient hearing and promised to
look into the matter when the file came to him, he said.
PTI
First Published: Friday, February 10, 2012, 20:04