Assets on Web: RTI officers say 'NO'
Sidharth
by Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times New Delhi, December 21, 2008
Information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi's move to put his asset
details in the public domain hasn't found favour with his colleagues.
In an apparent rejection of Gandhi's proposal, the Central Information
Commissioner has decided not to put his asset statement on the
commission's website, for now.
Gandhi had in November submitted details of his assets, worth Rs 5.4
crore, to the Central Information Commissioner and had asked it be put
on the commission's website. "I've requested CIC Wajahat Habibullah to
post the list of assets of all information commissioners on the
website," Gandhi had told HT.
The Central Information Commission, where majority of members are
retired bureaucrats, however, opted for a longer route to decide the
matter. "We've to take into account the procedure for submission of
declaration of property by other such commissions before taking a
final decision," Habibullah told HT.
The rules don't require members of commissions set up by the Centre to
declare assets.
Gandhi's proposal was discussed at a recent meeting, but most members
weren't in favour of declaring assets on the website."There wasn't
much opposition to declaration of assets. But, what the commissioners
didn't like was providing the information on the website," said a
commission official, who didn't want to be named.
Magsaysay award winner and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal termed the
move as a lost opportunity. "If the assets' statements would have been
put on the website, it would have put pressure on other government
departments to do the same," he said.
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