Govt sources counter Rahul, say 5 of 8 shortlisted names from disadvantaged groups

NEW DELHI: A high-level panel has recommended the names of five people belonging to disadvantaged sections for filling vacancies in the CIC, sources said, dismissing opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s reported claim that the finalised list lacked names from SC, ST, OBC and minority communities.The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha recorded his dissent during a meeting of a three-member high-level committee, comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and himself, held on Wednesday to choose the next Chief Information Commissioner and eight Information Commissioners.Dismissing Gandhi’s claims, the sources said eight names were finalised for filling the vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC) by the three-member committee.For the eight vacancies of Information Commissioners considered at the meeting, the Centre recommended one SC, one ST, one OBC, one minority representative, and one woman, according to the sources. Overall, five of the eight recommended names were from disadvantaged sections.The CIC was established in 2005.From 2005 to 2014, during the UPA government’s tenure, not a single person from the SC/ST community was appointed as either a member or the chairperson of the commission, they said.It was the NDA government that appointed Suresh Chandra in 2018, a member of the ST community, to the CIC.In 2020, Heeralal Samariya was appointed as Information Commissioner, and in 2023, he became the Chief Information Commissioner — the first-ever CIC from the SC community, the sources said.



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