Anna Hazare, Aamir Khan want Kiran Bedi to hold top RTI job
Anna Hazare, Aamir Khan want Kiran Bedi to hold top RTI job
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Anna-Hazare-Aamir-Khan-want-Kiran-Bedi-to-hold-top-RTI-job-/articleshow/5185855.cms
Anil Singh, TNN 1 November 2009, 02:21pm IST
MUMBAI: Social activist Anna Hazare and a host of other eminent people have written to the Prime Minister
proposing the name of Kiran Bedi, India's first woman IPS officer, for the job of chief central
information commissioner (CCIC). Following this, Right to Information (RTI) activists led by
Magsaysay award winner Arvind Kejriwal are rooting for her.
Hazare has written to Manmohan Singh as well as Sonia Gandhi saying that Bedi be appointed CCIC as she has the
best credentials to be the person who will be demanding transparency in governance on behalf of a billion
Indians. "If you are appointing another person, please let us know how that person is more suitble than
Kiran Bedi,'' says the letter.
Among the others who have written to the PM are actor Aamir Khan and Subhash Chandra of the Zee group. Several
other dignitaries, such as Narayana Murthy of Infosys, are to send their letters on Monday.
"We have learnt that the government is appointing a person of its choice as CCIC in two days without the wide
consultation that is needed for it,'' said Kejriwal.
Bedi, a national tennis champ, joined the Indian Police Service in 1972 and was acknowledged as a tough and
upright officer. She received the Magsaysay award in 1994 for her work in prison reforms as inspector
general of police in charge of Delhi's Tihar jail. Bedi opted for voluntary retirement in 2007 after being
bypassed for the post of
Delhi police commissioner. She plays the host and chief judge in a popular TV series, "Aap ki Kutchehri",
where she resolves domestic problems. She also runs two non-government organisatons for prison
reforms, child welfare, and against drug abuse.
The process of appointing central information commissioners has been opaque and concerned citizens and
RTI activists have been demanding a transparent and more participatory process. Generally,
bureaucrats close to the powers-that-be in Delhi are chosen. In fact, Kejriwal has been saying that the
Information Commission is in danger of becoming a parking ground for retired bureaucrats and political
loyalists.
For the moment, Wajahat Habibullah will continue as CCIC till his successor is chosen. Appointed the first
CCIC of India in October 2005, Habibullah, a former bureaucrat, resigned recently and will take charge as
the first chief information commissioner of Jammu & Kashmir.
The CCIC will be chosen by a three-member panel comprising the PM, the leader of the opposition (L K Advani)
and a cabinet minister nominated by the PM (Veerappa Moily). The post is on a par with the Election
Commissioner of India and the term is five years or up to the age of 65. The CIC can have a team of 10 central
information commissioners working under him/her. At present, there are eight, including Shailesh
Gandhi, who was Mumbai's best-known RTI activist. In fact, Gandhi is only one of the two non-bureaucrats
in the eight-member panel. The
other non-bureaucrat is Annapurna Dixit, widow of former national security adviser J N Dixit.
RTI activists say the current method of appointing the CCIC and state information commissioners, based on
insider information, contacts and recommendations, without advertising and inviting applications,
violates Section 12 of the RTI Act 2005. Section 12(5) states: “The Chief Information Commissioner and
Information Commissioners shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and
experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or
administration and governance.”
To give such people a fair chance to apply, RTI activists say, the government must cast its net far and wide,
all over India and in all walks of life. It must advertise the position, attract a good number of candidates
and select the best from among them with proper screening procedures. Handpicking people from a small
inner circle at DoPT, PMO and Central Information Commission, as it is doing now, is a sure way of defeating
excellence, nurturing mediocrity and protecting vested interests within the administration, say RTI
activists.
Anna Hazare, Aamir Khan want Kiran Bedi to hold top RTI job
Anil Singh | TNN
MUMBAI: Social activist Anna Hazare and a host of other eminent people have written to the Prime Minister
proposing the name of Kiran Bedi, India's first woman IPS officer, for the job of chief central
information commissioner (CCIC). Following this, Right to Information (RTI) activists led by
Magsaysay award winner Arvind Kejriwal are rooting for her.
Hazare has written to Manmohan Singh as well as Sonia Gandhi saying that Bedi be appointed CCIC as she has the
best credentials to be the person who will be demanding transparency in governance on behalf of a billion
Indians. "If you are appointing another person, please let us know how that person is more suitble than
Kiran Bedi,'' says the letter.
Among the others who have written to the PM are actor Aamir Khan and Subhash Chandra of the Zee group. Several
other dignitaries, such as Narayana Murthy of Infosys, are to send their letters on Monday.
"We have learnt that the government is appointing a person of its choice as CCIC in two days without the wide
consultation that is needed for it,'' said Kejriwal.
Bedi, a national tennis champ, joined the Indian Police Service in 1972 and was acknowledged as a tough and
upright officer. She received the Magsaysay award in 1994 for her work in prison reforms as inspector
general of police in charge of Delhi's Tihar jail. Bedi opted for voluntary retirement in 2007 after being
bypassed for the post of
Delhi police commissioner. She plays the host and chief judge in a popular TV series, "Aap ki Kutchehri",
where she resolves domestic problems. She also runs two non-government organisatons for prison
reforms, child welfare, and against drug abuse.
The process of appointing central information commissioners has been opaque and concerned citizens and
RTI activists have been demanding a transparent and more participatory process. Generally,
bureaucrats close to the powers-that-be in Delhi are chosen. In fact, Kejriwal has been saying that the
Information Commission is in danger of becoming a parking ground for retired bureaucrats and political
loyalists.
For the moment, Wajahat Habibullah will continue as CCIC till his successor is chosen. Appointed the first
CCIC of India in October 2005, Habibullah, a former bureaucrat, resigned recently and will take charge as
the first chief information commissioner of Jammu & Kashmir.
The CCIC will be chosen by a three-member panel comprising the PM, the leader of the opposition (L K Advani)
and a cabinet minister nominated by the PM (Veerappa Moily). The post is on a par with the Election
Commissioner of India and the term is five years or up to the age of 65. The CIC can have a team of 10 central
information commissioners working under him/her. At present, there are eight, including Shailesh
Gandhi, who was Mumbai's best-known RTI activist. In fact, Gandhi is only one of the two non-bureaucrats
in the eight-member panel. The
other non-bureaucrat is Annapurna Dixit, widow of former national security adviser J N Dixit.
RTI activists say the current method of appointing the CCIC and state information commissioners, based on
insider information, contacts and recommendations, without advertising and inviting applications,
violates Section 12 of the RTI Act 2005. Section 12(5) states: “The Chief Information Commissioner and
Information Commissioners shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and
experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or
administration and governance.”
To give such people a fair chance to apply, RTI activists say, the government must cast its net far and wide,
all over India and in all walks of life. It must advertise the position, attract a good number of candidates
and select the best from among them with proper screening procedures. Handpicking people from a small
inner circle at DoPT, PMO and Central Information Commission, as it is doing now, is a sure way of defeating
excellence, nurturing mediocrity and protecting vested interests within the administration, say RTI activists.
Anand S.
Anti Corruption Form
Bangalore 560 085
Cell No: +91-92410-12730
or +91-98450-39699
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