Anna Hazare, Aamir Khan want Kiran Bedi to hold top RTI job

Abhinav Garg & Anil Singh,TOI NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The issue of who succeeds Wajahat Habibullah as the country's chief information commissioner has taken on an interesting dimension with film star Aamir Khan, social activist Anna Hazare, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and a procession of renowned personalities mounting a vigorous campaign for the baton to be handed over to the first woman IPS officer, Kiran Bedi. Hazare, Aamir and a host of eminent persons have written to PM Manmohan Singh as well as Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, making a strong pitch that Bedi had the best credentials for a job that is crucial for promoting transparency in governance. "If you are appointing another person, please let us know how that person is more suitable than Kiran Bedi," says the letter. Signatories include Subhash Chandra of the Zee group, while several other celebrities such as Narayana Murthy of Infosys, are sending their letters on Monday. The letter comes in the wake of fears that the hard-earned, albeit limited, progress on the right to information is endangered with bureaucracy invoking the specious plea of public interest to negate the gains. A recent study showed that less than one-third of RTI applicants got the information they sought. The judiciary is yet to warm up to the idea of public disclosure of assets of judges, and the resistance seems to have encouraged the bureaucracy. As a matter of fact, secretaries of key ministries at the Centre are meeting on Tuesday to discuss whether public servants should be made liable to disclose their assets under RTI Act. The CIC under Habibullah had several run-ins with the bureaucracy as it sought to push the transparency envelope. Though he did not always succeed in the face of entrenched opposition, the country's first chief information commissioner, with access to the top echelons of power, often managed to hold his own. Information rights activists are wary of the bureaucracy seeking to influence the selection process to help install someone as the CIC who will not be a hurdle in their efforts to reclaim lost ground. "We have learnt that the government is appointing a person of its choice as CIC this week without the wide consultation that is needed for it," said Kejriwal, echoing the fear that a determined attempt would be made to roll back the progress in making transparency a right available to every Indian citizen. Obviously, the two information commissioners -- M M Ansari and A N Tiwari -- who are in contention for the job don't inspire much confidence among the activists. They cite the findings of a study analysing the performance of information commissioners to justify their scepticism as well as why they consider Bedi to be the ideal replacement for Habibullah. A national tennis champ, Bedi joined the Indian Police Service in 1972. She received the Magsaysay award in 1994 for her work in prison reforms as inspector-general of police in charge of Tihar jail. Bedi opted for voluntary retirement in 2007 after being overlooked for the post of Delhi police commissioner. The CIC is chosen by a three-member panel comprising the PM, the Leader of Opposition and a Cabinet minister nominated by the PM (Veerappa Moily). The post is at par with that of the chief election commissioner and the term is five years or up to the age of 65. Section 12(5) of the RTI Act states: "The chief information commissioner and information commissioners shall be persons 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." To give such persons a fair chance to apply, RTI activists say, the government must cast its net far and wide, all over India and in all walks of life. It must advertise the position, attract a good number of candidates and select the best from among them with proper screening procedures. Hand-picking people from a small inner circle at DoPT, PMO and Central Information Commission, as it is doing now, is a sure way of "defeating excellence, nurturing mediocrity and protecting vested interests" within the administration, say RTI activists. Speaking to TOI from Oman, Bedi said the news that Aamir and Anna Hazare had recommended her name for the post was "interesting". However, the feisty former cop wondered if such recommendations mattered. "I wonder if these letters carry any weight with the government. If the responsibility comes through, I will serve the country but won't take any salary. I am independent since the past two years and don't need any salary from the government. If they still insist, I would like to donate it to my foundation for poor children," Bedi said.