aruna criticises Jaya for skipping CIC selection meet

Karuna criticises Jaya for skipping CIC selection meet
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

times of india, chennai edition, page no.5

Chennai: Criticising opposition leader J Jayalalithaa for failing to turn up for a meeting of the selection committee of the state’s chief information commissioner (CIC), chief minister M Karunanidhi said on Tuesday that it had become a habit with her to ignore invitations to attend meetings, including all-party deliberations.
Asked by reporters at the DMK headquarters about her absence, he said when the last CIC was appointed, the then opposition leader, K Anbazhagan, had attended the meeting and accepted the majority view about the appointment made by the then CM Jayalalithaa and finance minister C Ponnaiyan. “Anbazhagan cooperated with the selection process in a dignified manner,” Karunanidhi said.
Meanwhile, official sources said that governor SS Barnala had signed the appointment order, even as RTI activists petitioned him to ensure transparency in the selection process. Jaya not given details of meeting, says AIADMK
Chennai: Chief minister M Karunanidhi on Tuesday criticised opposition leader J Jayalalithaa for failing to turn up for a meeting of the selection committee of the state’s chief information commissioner.
On Monday, the panel, comprising the chief minister and the finance minister, met in Jayalalithaa’s absence and sent a recommendation to the governor. AIADMK sources claimed that Jayalalithaa, a member of the committee as required under the RTI Act, kept away because she was not given in advance details of the candidates under consideration for appointment.
Asked whether she had given any reason for her absence, Karunanidhi did not give a specific reply, but said, in general, she kept away from meetings convened by him, including all-party ones on important issues concerning the state’s interests and on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. “I will invite her, but she won’t come. Sometimes, she will write to me criticising me or my government and say that she is boycotting the meeting,” he said. With the state government tight-lipped over the name of the person recommended for the CIC’s post, a group of RTI activists have petitioned the governor to ensure transparency in the selection process, saying that the government was trying to keep the exercise under wraps.
The RTI Act says that the CIC shall be a person of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance. The activists want the government to prescribe rules stipulating advertisements through media calling for applications, prescribing minimum educational qualifications and experience for candidates, for testing the capability and integrity of the applicants, shortlisting the candidates and inviting public objections, if any, before sending the names to the selection committee. With media reports speculating that chief secretary KS Sripathi, retired IAS officer Shanta Sheela Nair or information commissioner TR Ramasamy were the likely candidates, the activists, in their representation to the governor on Tuesday, said they wanted to meet him in person to brief him as to how there had been no effort from the government to initiate a transparent procedure, despite repeated requests.
“It is a great irony that the appointment of the very person who is expected to uphold transparency is happening in such a hush-hush manner,’’ said the representation, signed by V Madhav of the Association for India’s Development on behalf of a team of activists campaigning for transparency. “CIC is like a backbone for the Act as he can ensure transparency in governance. The government should, at least, fulfil obligations under Section 4 of the Act as per which it should publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect public,” said V Gopalakrishnan, another campaigner.