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Lawyers, scribes form huge chunk of applicants for posts of SCIC, ICs
Changes in service conditions of chief information and information commissioners took much of the charm away from these positions and this is probably the reason why not many prominent bureaucrats showed interest in the positions advertised by the government, says official
LUCKNOW Lawyers and journalists have formed a huge chunk of applicants vying for the 11 crucial positions of one state chief information commissioner (SCIC) and 10 information commissioners (IC) in the State Information Commission while prominent serving/retired bureaucrats are surprisingly ‘absent’ from the pool of applicants, in a departure from the past.
The state government, according to people in the know of things, has shortlisted a staggering around 500 applications for the 11 posts, over 50 of them for the post of chief information commissioner to fill all the vacant posts possibly by next month.
While three positions of the SICs have been vacant for a long time, the remaining eight posts, including that of the chief information commissioner, are also falling vacant on different dates between February 6 and 26. The current state CIC and retired IPS officer Bhawesh Kumar is completing his three-year tenure on February 6.
More than 50% of the total candidates who have applied for the posts are from legal and journalistic background, revealed a senior official, adding: “Though some bureaucrats have also applied for the post, not many are big and known names.”
Aradhana Shukla, who retired from the IAS as additional chief secretary in February 2023, and RK Viswakarma who retired as acting director-general of police (DGP) of Uttra Pradesh in May 2023, are said to be among the only few big names in the race. They have applied for both positions.
“Changes made by the Central government in the service conditions of the chief information and information commissioners in October 2019 took much of the charm away from these positions and this is probably the reason why not many prominent bureaucrats showed interest in the positions advertised by the government,” another official pointed out.
Earlier, the coveted post of the state CIC used to be one of the most sought-after post-retirement assignments for top IAS officers, including chief secretaries.
Under the previous rules, a state CIC or a SIC was appointed for five years from the date on which he entered office or till he attained the age of 65 years, whichever earlier. The amended rules, however, reduced the tenure to just three years.
“Also, earlier CIC was granted the status equivalent to that of the election commissioner and a state election commissioner enjoyed the status that of the chief secretary with the same monthly salary. But now the new rules also did away with status equivalence besides fixing the monthly salary on lower side,” the official said.
The department of administrative reforms is expected to forward the list of eligible applicants to the chief minister’s office in a week or so for further action. The CIC and the SICs are appointed by the governor on the recommendation of the committee comprising the chief minister as its chairperson and the leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha and a cabinet minister nominated by the chief minister as members.
The state government, it is pointed out, is sure to make appointments on time this time or by February-end in view of the Supreme Court hearing a PIL questioning state governments’ tendency of not filling vacant posts in state information commissions on time.
