Dear Shri Narendra Modi,

The Right to Information Act is under threat once again! This time due to the Government not appointing a Chief Information Commissioner.

How can the Central Information Commission (CIC), responsible for adjudicating RTI appeals, function effectively without a Chief Information Commissioner?

Yet for the first time sincethe landmark legislation was passed in 2005, there is no Chief Information Commissioner in the CIC. The post has remained vacant since August 22, 2014.

This massive delay in appointing a new Chief is severely hampering the working of the Information Commission. There is already a huge backlog in the Commission with close to 25,000 appeals and complaints pending.

This ever-increasing backlog of cases challenges the citizen’s fundamental Right to Information and creates roadblocks in fighting corruption, big and small.

PM Modi, you have often stressed on ‘anti-corruption’ and ‘quest for transparency’ as the driving forces of your good governance program. How then can such a key institution to fight corruption remain rudderless?

According to media reports, the delay in appointing a new Chief is because there is no Leader of Opposition. However, the RTI Act clearly states that in the absence of a recognised Leader of Opposition, the leader of the single largest opposition party should be part of the committee to appoint the new chief.

Since the RTI Act is absolutely clear on this, we ask you, as a citizens of this country, to ensure the post is filled immediately.

The RTI Act is one of the most empowering legislations for citizens and there are millions of examples from across the country on how people have successfully used RTI to hold the government accountable.

We, therefore, ask you to appoint a Chief Information Commissioner without further delay and walk the talk on your transparency and good governance agenda.

Yours Sincerely,

Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey & Amrita Johri