Home Minister Amit Shah to be chief guest at 14th CIC convention

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be the chief guest at the 14th annual convention of the Central Information Commission on Saturday which will focus on the key issues of challenges ahead for RTI, Gandhian thoughts, and use of transparency in effective governance.

The convention, a key feature of the CIC which is the highest adjudicating body for RTI matters, is an occasion for information commissioners from across the country, officials handling information seeking applications, and applicants to deliberate on issues affecting the transparency system.

Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh, who heads the nodal ministry for CIC and RTI, will be the guest of honour on the occasion, an official statement said.

This year the convention is taking place as three positions of Information Commissioners are lying vacant and pending appeals and complaints have soared to 32,000.

For the day-long programme, the Commission has identified three themes-- Gandhian thoughts and RTI, RTI as a tool of effective governance and RTI Act-challenges ahead, it said.

Former diplomat Pawan K Varma, academicians N Radhakrishnan and Anurag Gangal will speak on Gandhian thoughts and RTI while former Chief Information Commissioners Wajahat Habibullah and A N Tiwari and journalist Shyamlal Yadav will share views on RTI as a tool of effective governance.

Information Commissioner Bimal Julka, Partha Pratim Chakrabarti and transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj will speak on the theme of RTI Act-challenges ahead.