PREPARING FOR IMPLEMENTATION

Setting Up Information Commissions: Appointing Commissioners

At a minimum, all Information Commissions are headed by a Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). The Central Act allows the CIC to be supported by up to 10 Information Commissioners (IC). Currently, the Central Information Commission has 1 CIC and 4 ICs. Most State Information Commissions have 1 CIC and between 2-4 ICs. It is understood that there may be additional appointments if the workload is found to necessitate more Commissioners.

The qualifications for the ICs are specified in the Central Act, and indicate that CICs and ICs do not only have to be ex-bureaucrats but can be any person with a demonstrated commitment to open government. The key issue is that all Commissioners are independent of Government influence and supportive of transparency through RTI. The representation of the Commission should also give due representation to women and minority groups. Unfortunately though, most CICs which have been appointed to date have been ex-Chief Secretaries.

The selection process for appointing CICs and ICs is also set out in the Central Act. At a minimum, a Selection Committee comprising the Prime Minister (Chief Minister in the States), Opposition Leader and another Cabinet Member must choose the CICs and ICs. Ideally, the selection process should be transparent and participatory. For example, an open employment process could be used whereby the position is advertised or the public could be asked to suggest names. At the very least, the list of suggested candidates should be published prior to their consideration by the Selection Committee, accompanied by an explanation of their skills. Unfortunately, neither the Central Government nor any of the States have yet adopted such an open process.

Ideally, before determining the number of Commissioners to be appointed, an estimate should be made of the number of appeals the Commission will be expected to handle. Obviously, the number of Commissioners then appointed should be enough to handle the appeals in a timely, competent manner - but not more than is necessary. To maximise the efficiency of the Commission, in the early days of the operationalisation of the Central Act, consideration could be given to appointing less Commissioners but employing more qualified staff to support Commissioners to discharge their duties effectively. As the number of appeals grows, more Commissioners and more staff may be appointed to ensure that processing times remain limited to 30-45 days.