BENGALURU: The functioning of the state information commission has literally paralysed with five out of seven posts of information commissioners (ICs) including that of Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) lying vacant.
While three posts are vacant for over six months after the end of the tenure of AKM Nayak, M R Pujar and D Thangaraju in June 2015, two posts have fallen vacant since January 18 as Dr Shekhar D Sajjanar and T Rama Naik completed their tenure.
This has not only put pressure on two information commissioners L Krishnamurthy and Shankar R Patil to work overtime, but also resulted in piling up of appeals in large numbers. According to Krishnamurthy, who was given the charge of CIC, a whopping 31,116 appeals are pending for disposal before the Commission as on Saturday.
From the government’s side, there are no signs of these posts being filled in the near future.
For, the government is said to have decided to complete the process of appointment of all five posts at once while putting the on-going process of filling vacancies created earlier on hold.
The government had invited applications for three posts in June 2015.
Since it received just over 30 applications, it decided to invite applications again in October for want of more applications. Though it’s been three months since then and as many as 410 people had applied, the selection committee, headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and consisting Opposition Leader Jagadish Shettar and Law Minister T B Jayachandra, had not taken any decision on the issue for reasons best known to it.
In fact, the selection committee was supposed to meet on January 20, but it was postponed citing non-availability of Jayachandra for the meeting on the day. But sources say the meeting was postponed only to accommodate CM’s secretary Narasimharaju who is retiring soon as CIC.
“I really don’t know what is in the government’s mind. I have been pressurising them to convene the meeting and fill up the posts, but in vain. Such delays will defeat the very purpose of having such institutions,” Shettar told Express.
Shettar that the government is also making unnecessary delay in the selection of the Lokayukta.
“The CM has told the media that he has convened a meeting on January 25. But till now I have not received any intimation of any such meeting,” he added.