State info commissioners mum on asset declaration

While information on the assets of the central commissioners is available on the Central Information Commission website,Uttar Pradesh will have to wait before its commissioners follow suit.

When The Indian Express contacted state information commissioners,some expressed ignorance,while others said the decision would be taken by the chief information commissioner.

Information Commissioner (IC) Virendra Saxena lauded the move,but said,“The decision has to be taken by the chief information commissioner. We will do whatever we are told.¿ Saxena is a former journalist.

IC Sanjay Yadav was unaware of the issue. Yadav,a former major of the Indian Army,retired in 1992 and has been socially active since then. He said,“I can’t say much. The move may be mandatory or voluntary,but it has to be ensured that the information is not misused in any way.”

IC Dr Ashok Gupta,MD in Medicine and former regional director of the Regional Rehabilitation Centre at Lucknow,said,“The impact of this move is yet to be seen and it came after much deliberation. We will talk to the chief information commissioner,UP,on this issue.”

Advocate-turned-information commissioners Brajesh Mishra,Gyan Prakash Maurya,Ram Saran Awasthi,Subhash Chandra Pandey and Sunil Kumar Chaudhary expressed similar opinions. Mishra added “The pros and cons of the move have to be seen before we take such a step.”

Chief Information Commissioner Ranjeet Singh Pankaj refused comment. A former bureaucrat,Pankaj has handled departments as director of social welfare,special secretary of backward classes welfare,vice-chairman of development authority,district magistrate and joint managing director of UP handlooms.

His tenure as the district magistrate in Gorakhpur was controversial. Prior to his appointment in the State Information Commission in 2009,charges of corruption in the selection process of 3,448 safai karamcharis were levelled against Pankaj when he was district magistrate of Gorakhpur in 2008. The charges were corroborated by divisional commissioner P K Mohanty,who conducted an inquiry. After the probe,the government cancelled all the appointments and held Pankaj responsible for violating norms and handpicking men of his choice who later committed irregularities,including accepting bribes.