Ironic as it may sound, even officials of transparency bodies do not want internal discussions to be made public. Take, for instance, the case of the Central Information Commission (CIC) whose two information commissioners have openly questioned the motive behind making public internal discussions and identifying them for their opposition to the government proposed RTI rules.
What are they scared of?
At the monthly meeting of the Commission last week, information commissioners Yashovardhan Azad and M Sridhar Acharyulu, who had earlier opposed provisions of government's draft RTI rules, questioned the motive behind making public their opposition and internal discussions in the November meeting of the Commission.
Both Azad and Acharyulu had then criticised the proposals for the introduction of new rules that give more powers to Chief Information Commissioner to assign any RTI appeal to a commissioner in larger public interest. At a full Commission meeting in November, Azad and Acharyulu expressed strong reservations to the insertion of a new Rule 15 and said it would be "misused" by the government.
Last week, the full Commission meeting called to bid farewell to the retiring information commissioner, Manjula Prasher, saw the two information commissioners pointing out that they had been identified for their opposition in the minutes of meetings issued.
The information commissioners have reportedly stressed the need to keep CIC away from the influence of the government.
This is not the first clash within the Commission. There have been similar face-offs over the last two months. Another bone of contention was the choice of chief guest for the CIC's annual convention, which is a high-profile annual event to commemorate the anniversary of RTI Act enactment. Information commissioners had suggested different names, including that of Chief Justice of India, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not spare time for the event. However, the chief commissioner decided on Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu for the December event. Azad had boycotted the event.
Even CIC officials don't want public to know everything
By IndianMandarins - 2018-01-27 11:26:08
Ironic as it may sound, even officials of transparency bodies do not want internal discussions to be made public. Take, for instance, the case of the Central Information Commission (CIC) whose two information commissioners have openly questioned the motive behind making public internal discussions and identifying them for their opposition to the government proposed RTI rules.
What are they scared of?
At the monthly meeting of the Commission last week, information commissioners Yashovardhan Azad and M Sridhar Acharyulu, who had earlier opposed provisions of government's draft RTI rules, questioned the motive behind making public their opposition and internal discussions in the November meeting of the Commission.
Both Azad and Acharyulu had then criticised the proposals for the introduction of new rules that give more powers to Chief Information Commissioner to assign any RTI appeal to a commissioner in larger public interest. At a full Commission meeting in November, Azad and Acharyulu expressed strong reservations to the insertion of a new Rule 15 and said it would be "misused" by the government.
Last week, the full Commission meeting called to bid farewell to the retiring information commissioner, Manjula Prasher, saw the two information commissioners pointing out that they had been identified for their opposition in the minutes of meetings issued.
The information commissioners have reportedly stressed the need to keep CIC away from the influence of the government.
This is not the first clash within the Commission. There have been similar face-offs over the last two months. Another bone of contention was the choice of chief guest for the CIC's annual convention, which is a high-profile annual event to commemorate the anniversary of RTI Act enactment. Information commissioners had suggested different names, including that of Chief Justice of India, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not spare time for the event. However, the chief commissioner decided on Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu for the December event. Azad had boycotted the event.
