Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Cripple and scuttle: On vacancies in Information Commissions

Cripple and scuttle: On vacancies in Information Commissions

Governments are discouraging (हतोत्साहित करना, रोकना) the exercise of the right to information

Nearly two decades (दशक) after the passage (पारित करना) of the Right to Information (सूचना का अधिकार) Act, it is quite apparent (प्रकट, स्पष्ट, साफ) that governments, at least sections (भाग, विभाजन, खंड) of it, are uncomfortable with the idea of transparency (पारदर्शिता, स्पष्टता) and empowerment (सशक्तिकरण) associated with it. Amendments (संशोधन, परिवर्तन) to dilute (कमजोर करना, पतला करना) its efficacy (प्रभावशीलता, उपयोगिता) and attempts to defeat it by delaying or denying information have been quite (fairly, relatively; completely, fully) common for years. Another way to scuttle ((intentionally) cause something to fail; destroy, wreak) the law is to cripple (अपंग करना) the functioning (कामकाज, कार्यप्रणाली) of information commissions (सूचना आयोग) at the central and State levels. The issue has surfaced (emerge, appear, come to light, become apparent) again, with the Supreme Court of India questioning the large number of vacancies in the central and some State Information Commissions. These commissions (आयोग) hear appeals (plea, request, petition, supplication, application) from members of the public (people, citizens, citizenry, electors, voters) who have been denied access to information or have failed to elicit (obtain or get (a reaction/response from someone with some difficulty); bring out, draw out, evoke, extract, extort, bring about, bring forth, call forth) a response from designated (appointed, assigned, delegated) information officers in various departments and institutions. A Division Bench (a court of law with a number of judges) has taken note of the fact that (used to refer to a specific situation under consideration/discussion) there are eight vacancies in the posts of Information Commissioners in the Central Information Commission (CIC) (Under the provision of Section-12 of RTI Act 2005 the Central Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute a body to be known as the Central Information Commission. The Central Information Commission shall consist of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and such number of Central Information Commissioners not exceeding 10 as may be deemed necessary), while 23,000 appeals are pending before it. In fact, some State-level Information Commissions are almost defunct (disused, no longer in use, unused, inoperative, non-functioning) for want of (lacking, needing, because of not having something) members to hear the public. Any court is bound (duty-bound by law to do something; to obligated, obliged, compelled, committed required) to ask, as the Court has now done, how an institution can be of any use (to be useful/helpful) if it does not have persons to perform the required duties under the law.

The Court has sought to impart (give, provide) some urgency to the matter by directing the Department of Personnel and Training (it is the coordinating agency of the Central Government in personnel matters specially issues concerning recruitment, training, career development and staff welfare. The DoPT is part of The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions) to spell out (explain, make clear, elucidate/clarify) in two weeks the timelines for completing the selection process and notifying the appointments of the eight Information Commissioners in the CIC. It has also asked for details about the search committee and the list of applicants (candidate, aspirant) for the posts. Similarly, States that have initiated the appointment process but without any definite timeline have been asked to complete the process within a specified time. However, this may not be enough to bring about (cause, result in, lead to, give rise to, produce, generate, effect) a revival (re-establishment, reintroduction, restoration; improvement) in the fulfilment (the meeting of a requirement, need, condition) of the original purpose of the Act (law, decree, statute, rule, ruling, ordinance, legislation). Besides (apart from, other than, barring, excluding) filling up vacancies, not all governments have complied with a Court verdict of 2019 that called for proactive (energetic, motivated, farsighted, cautious, careful) efforts to fill up vacancies in time (punctually, promptly, early enough, on time, on schedule, not too late) by advertising them early. The CIC’s post was stripped of its autonomy (independence, freedom (from external control/influence); self-determination) some years ago when the government removed the fixed five-year tenure (term, period of/in office; period, time, stint, spell) and made it open-ended (not having fixed limits; without any date/tenure fixed in advance). Not much has been done to appoint candidates from various walks of life, as retired civil servants continue to be chosen, a point noted by the Bench in the latest hearing (lawsuit, proceedings, inquiry, legal proceedings, legal action). It is inevitable (unavoidable, inescapable, unpreventable, bound to happen) that a large number of vacancies will result in (cause, lead to, bring on, bring about, give rise to) a huge backlog (accumulation, logjam, pile-up/excess (of pending work/things)) and ultimately (eventually, finally, at last, in the end) discourage the people from seeking (ask for, request, demand, appeal) information. It is difficult not to conclude that this is what those in power want.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.cripple (verb)

Hindi Meaning - अपंग करना
English Meaning - destroy, impair, hamper, impede; damage, weaken, paralyse, debilitate, disable.

2.information commission (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सूचना आयोग
English Meaning - it has been constituted with effect from 12-10-2005 under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The jurisdiction of the Commission extends over all Central Public Authorities.

3.discourage (verb)

Hindi Meaning - हतोत्साहित करना, रोकना
English Meaning - prevent, stop, deter, fend off.

4.right to information (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सूचना का अधिकार
English Meaning - The right to information act was passed in the year 2005. This law empowers Indian citizens to seek any accessible information from a Public Authority and makes the Government and its functionaries more accountable and responsible.

5.decade (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दशक
English Meaning - a period of ten years.

6.passage (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पारित करना
English Meaning - enactment, passing, ratification adoption, authorization, validation (of a bill into a law).

7.apparent (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - प्रकट, स्पष्ट, साफ
English Meaning - visible, clear, evident, noticeable, palpable, striking.

8.section (noun)

Hindi Meaning - भाग, विभाजन, खंड
English Meaning - part, division.

9.transparency (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पारदर्शिता, स्पष्टता
English Meaning - clarity, straightforwardness, openness, honesty, unambiguity.

10.empowerment (noun)

Hindi Meaning - सशक्तिकरण
English Meaning - authority/power provided to someone to do something; authorization.

11.amendment (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संशोधन, परिवर्तन
English Meaning - revision, alteration ,change, modification.

12.dilute (verb)

Hindi Meaning - कमजोर करना, पतला करना
English Meaning - weaken, reduce, impair, diminish, decrease, lessen, make dull.

13.efficacy (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रभावशीलता, उपयोगिता
English Meaning - effectiveness, efficiency, usefulness.

14.functioning (noun)

Hindi Meaning - कामकाज, कार्यप्रणाली
English Meaning - operation, activity, performance.

15.commission (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आयोग
English Meaning - board, panel, council, committee.

16.scuttle (verb)

English Meaning - (intentionally) cause something to fail; destroy, wreak.

17.Right to Information Act, 2005 (noun)

English Meaning - An Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

18.quite (adverb)

English Meaning - fairly, relatively; completely, fully.

19.surface (verb)

English Meaning - emerge, appear, come to light, become apparent.

20.appeal (noun)

English Meaning - plea, request, petition, supplication, application.

21.the public (noun)

English Meaning - people, citizens, citizenry, electors, voters.

22.elicit (verb)

English Meaning - obtain or get (a reaction/response from someone with some difficulty); bring out, draw out, evoke, extract, extort, bring about, bring forth, call forth

23.designated (adjective)

English Meaning - appointed, assigned, delegated.

24.bench (noun)

English Meaning - a court of law with a number of judges.

25.Constitution Bench (noun)

English Meaning - a bench of the Supreme Court having five or more judges on it. These benches are not a routine phenomenon. (Constitution Benches are exceptions, set up only if some circumstances exist).

26.Division Bench (noun)

English Meaning - a bench of two or three judges is called a division bench.

27.take note of (phrase)

English Meaning - pay attention, bear in mind, be mindful of, heed, follow, comply with.

28.the fact that (phrase)

English Meaning - used to refer to a specific situation under consideration/discussion.

29.Central Information Commission (CIC) (noun)

English Meaning - Under the provision of Section-12 of RTI Act 2005 the Central Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute a body to be known as the Central Information Commission. The Central Information Commission shall consist of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and such number of Central Information Commissioners not exceeding 10 as may be deemed necessary.

30.in fact (adverb)

English Meaning - actually, really, as a matter of fact, indeed, in truth.

31.defunct (adjective)

English Meaning - disused, no longer in use, unused, inoperative, non-functioning.

32.for want of (phrase)

English Meaning - lacking, needing, because of not having something.

33.bound (adjective)

English Meaning - duty-bound by law to do something; to obligated, obliged, compelled, committed required.

34.of any use (phrase)

English Meaning - to be useful/helpful.

35.sought past tense of seek (verb)

English Meaning - try, aim, attempt.

36.impart (verb)

English Meaning - give, provide.

37.Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) (noun)

English Meaning - it is the coordinating agency of the Central Government in personnel matters specially issues concerning recruitment, training, career development and staff welfare. The DoPT is part of The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

38.spell out (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - explain, make clear, elucidate/clarify.

39.applicant (noun)

English Meaning - candidate, aspirant.

40.bring about (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - cause, result in, lead to, give rise to, produce, generate, effect.

41.revival (noun)

English Meaning - re-establishment, reintroduction, restoration; improvement.

42.fulfilment (noun)

English Meaning - the meeting of a requirement, need, condition.

43.Act (noun)

English Meaning - law, decree, statute, rule, ruling, ordinance, legislation.

44.besides (preposition)

English Meaning - apart from, other than, barring, excluding.

45.comply with (verb)

English Meaning - abide by, adhere to, conform to; observe, obey, follow.

46.call for (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - require, publicly ask/necessitate, demand.

47.proactive (adjective)

English Meaning - energetic, motivated, farsighted, cautious, careful.

48.in time (phrase)

English Meaning - punctually, promptly, early enough, on time, on schedule, not too late.

49.strip of (verb)

English Meaning - dispossess, deprive of, deny, prevent from having.

50.autonomy (noun)

English Meaning - independence, freedom (from external control/influence); self-determination.

51.tenure (noun)

English Meaning - term, period of/in office; period, time, stint, spell.

52.open-ended (adjective)

English Meaning - not having fixed limits; without any date/tenure fixed in advance.

53.all walks of life (phrase)

English Meaning - used to refer to people who have many different jobs or positions in society.

54.hearing (noun)

English Meaning - lawsuit, proceedings, inquiry, legal proceedings, legal action.

55.inevitable (adjective)

English Meaning - unavoidable, inescapable, unpreventable, bound to happen.

56.result in (verb)

English Meaning - cause, lead to, bring on, bring about, give rise to.

57.backlog (noun)

English Meaning - accumulation, logjam, pile-up/excess (of pending work/things).

58.ultimately (adverb)

English Meaning - eventually, finally, at last, in the end.

59.seek (verb)

English Meaning - ask for, request, demand, appeal.