Weeks after Sonia Gandhi's scathing criticism in Parliament, the government has decided to fill key posts in the Chief Vigilance Commission and the Information Commission. Ministers and officials Saturday met PM Modi at his residence to decide on the names shortlisted for various posts. A dozen people have been chosen from over 530 applicants, sources say. PM Modi has nominated Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to the panel that will select the Chief Information Commissioner and three other information commissioners. The Chief Vigilance Commissioner and a Vigilance Commissioner will be appointed by a panel that includes PM Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge. After the national election, which saw the Congress reduced to just 44 seats, the lack of a Leader of Opposition presented a hurdle in the appointment of members to statutory bodies that require a bipartisan selection panel. The government then decided to allow the Congress to join the selection panels as the single largest opposition party. Earlier this month, Sonia Gandhi made a rare intervention in Parliament to flag what she called the Modi government's "deplorable lapse" in keeping posts vital to transparency and good governance vacant while showing "extraordinary urgency" in introducing bills. The Congress president said in the Lok Sabha, "The PM in the election campaign made many fraudulent promises about transparency. And continues to do so. In a blatant U-turn, his government, through the absence of a Chief Information Commissioner, has made sure that the highest offices are not accountable under the RTI Act." Citizens, she said, no longer had the right to question the government. She accused the government of "brutally weakening" the Right to Information or RTI Act, and urged it to "match its words of fighting corruption with action."
