Four state information commissioners (SICs) appointed to the Telangana Information Commission (TGIC) took oath of office at the state secretariat Wednesday in the presence of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
With these appointments and that of Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Chandrashekar Reddy, who took charge last week, the TGIC is now fully operational after more than two years.
CIC Reddy is a retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer who worked as the chief minister’s principal secretary in the CMO till now.
Senior journalist P V Srinivasa Rao; advocate and former member of Telangana Waqf Board Mohsina Parvin; advocate Deshala Bhoopal; and senior journalist Boreddy Ayodhya Reddy, who served as the chief public relations officer (CPRO) in the CMO till now, are the four SICs. They will serve a tenure of three years or until the age of 65, whichever is earlier.
As of January 8, TGIC faced a significant backlog of over 16,000 second appeals and direct complaints. Responding to an RTI query by indianexpress.comthe office of TGIC had said that 5,502 direct complaints and 10,716 second appeals were pending disposal as of January 8, 2025. The commission has been receiving an average of 250-plus second appeals and fewer than 100 direct complaints every month, according to the RTI response.
The last CIC, C Buddha Murali, demitted office in September 2022. He was previously an SIC for three years and took over the CIC’s charge from his predecessor, Raja Sadaram Soma, in October 2020. The three-year tenure of five other SICs – Katta Shekar Reddy, Guguloth Shankar Naik, Syed Khaleelullah, Myda Narayana Reddy, and Mohd Amer – ended on February 24, 2023.
Welcoming the appointments, M Padmanabha Reddy, secretary of governance watchdog Forum for Good Governance, which had approached the high court for appointments of information commissioners, said, “No comments on the selection (of candidates). It is a reasonable selection. They are all appointed per the rules and the Governor rejected two people with close political links.”
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After applications were called last year, the names were shortlisted, and put before the selection committee, where the Leader of Opposition did not join the meeting. The committee’s report was sent to the Governor, and the final names were approved.
“The CIC is a senior IFS officer (retired) and has vast administrative experience, including in CMO. The objection is only when someone without experience and political links is appointed. I welcome this appointment, and it is better late than never,” Padmanabha Reddy added.
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