With Assembly polls just months away, RTI activists have demanded that commissioners be appointed immediately before the model code of conduct.THE PENDENCY of appeals and complaints with the State Information Commission (SIC) is rising even as the state sits on a decision to appoint three new information commissioners.
The deadline for submitting applications for the posts of three information commissioners had ended last month.
With Assembly polls just months away, RTI activists have demanded that commissioners be appointed immediately before the model code of conduct.
Officials from the general administration department said it has received about 70 applications for the three posts in Nashik, Pune and Nagpur bench of the SIC.
The last date to submit applications was July 7. While the post in Nashik has been vacant since February, Pune has not had an information commissioner since November 2018. The post in Nagpur has been vacant from June 2018, an official said.
“We have received around 70 applications, which will be placed before the search committee set up by the government to shortlist the candidates. The meeting of the search committee is yet to take place,” said an official.
The three-member search committee, set up by the state government in February, is headed by Justice (retd) Mohit Shah, former chief justice of the Bombay High Court, with the central information commissioner and the chief secretary as its members.
The shortlisted names will be sent to a committee led by the chief minister, which will recommend names to the Governor for the appointment of information commissioners, said the official.
However, data from SIC reveals that 41,838 appeals and 5,365 complaints are pending in its seven benches till June. While the highest number of appeals, at 11,183, are pending with the Pune bench, the figure is 5,456 for the Nashik bench and 1,267 for the Nagpur bench.
RTI activists have slammed the government for delaying appointments. “It clearly shows that the government wants to drag its feet and doesn’t have the intention to appoint commissioners immediately. The appointments should be made at the earliest before the code of conduct comes into force. Otherwise, it will lead to a lot of pendency,” said G R Vora, RTI activist from Mumbai.
