New Delhi, Dec 12: Government sources on Friday countered Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claim that the shortlist for key posts in the Central Information Commission (CIC) lacked representation from backward communities. They said that a high-level panel has, in fact, recommended five candidates from disadvantaged sections for the upcoming vacancies.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had recorded his dissent during a meeting of the three-member selection committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and himself — held on Wednesday to finalise the next Chief Information Commissioner and eight Information Commissioners.
Dismissing his allegations, government sources said the committee shortlisted eight candidates, including one from the Scheduled Castes, one Scheduled Tribe, one OBC, one minority community representative and one woman. In total, five of the eight recommended names belong to disadvantaged categories.
They further noted that from 2005 to 2014, during the UPA government, not a single SC/ST candidate was appointed as a member or chief of the CIC. In contrast, the NDA government appointed Suresh Chandra, from the ST community, as an Information Commissioner in 2018.
In 2020, Heeralal Samariya was appointed as Information Commissioner and went on to become the first-ever Chief Information Commissioner from the Scheduled Castes in 2023, they added.