Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
$message = 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
$stackFrame = (int) 1
$trace = [
	(int) 0 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ServerRequest.php',
		'line' => (int) 2421,
		'function' => 'deprecationWarning',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead.'
		]
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
		'line' => (int) 73,
		'function' => 'offsetGet',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'catslug'
		]
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Controller/Controller.php',
		'line' => (int) 610,
		'function' => 'printArticle',
		'class' => 'App\Controller\ArtileDetailController',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 120,
		'function' => 'invokeAction',
		'class' => 'Cake\Controller\Controller',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 94,
		'function' => '_invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/BaseApplication.php',
		'line' => (int) 235,
		'function' => 'dispatch',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\BaseApplication',
		'object' => object(App\Application) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 162,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 88,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 96,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 51,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Server.php',
		'line' => (int) 98,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\MiddlewareQueue) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/webroot/index.php',
		'line' => (int) 39,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Server',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Server) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	]
]
$frame = [
	'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
	'line' => (int) 73,
	'function' => 'offsetGet',
	'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
	'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {
		trustProxy => false
		[protected] params => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] data => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] query => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] cookies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _environment => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] url => 'latest-news-updates/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722/print'
		[protected] base => ''
		[protected] webroot => '/'
		[protected] here => '/latest-news-updates/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722/print'
		[protected] trustedProxies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _input => null
		[protected] _detectors => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _detectorCache => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] stream => object(Zend\Diactoros\PhpInputStream) {}
		[protected] uri => object(Zend\Diactoros\Uri) {}
		[protected] session => object(Cake\Http\Session) {}
		[protected] attributes => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] emulatedAttributes => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] uploadedFiles => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] protocol => null
		[protected] requestTarget => null
		[private] deprecatedProperties => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	},
	'type' => '->',
	'args' => [
		(int) 0 => 'catslug'
	]
]
deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 73
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Code Context


        trigger_error($message, E_USER_DEPRECATED);

    }
$message = 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php.'
$stackFrame = (int) 1
$trace = [
	(int) 0 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ServerRequest.php',
		'line' => (int) 2421,
		'function' => 'deprecationWarning',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead.'
		]
	],
	(int) 1 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
		'line' => (int) 74,
		'function' => 'offsetGet',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => 'artileslug'
		]
	],
	(int) 2 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Controller/Controller.php',
		'line' => (int) 610,
		'function' => 'printArticle',
		'class' => 'App\Controller\ArtileDetailController',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 3 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 120,
		'function' => 'invokeAction',
		'class' => 'Cake\Controller\Controller',
		'object' => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	],
	(int) 4 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php',
		'line' => (int) 94,
		'function' => '_invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(App\Controller\ArtileDetailController) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 5 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/BaseApplication.php',
		'line' => (int) 235,
		'function' => 'dispatch',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 6 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\BaseApplication',
		'object' => object(App\Application) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 7 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 162,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 8 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 9 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 88,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 10 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 11 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php',
		'line' => (int) 96,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 12 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 65,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware',
		'object' => object(Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 13 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Runner.php',
		'line' => (int) 51,
		'function' => '__invoke',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 14 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Http/Server.php',
		'line' => (int) 98,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Runner',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Runner) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => [
			(int) 0 => object(Cake\Http\MiddlewareQueue) {},
			(int) 1 => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {},
			(int) 2 => object(Cake\Http\Response) {}
		]
	],
	(int) 15 => [
		'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/webroot/index.php',
		'line' => (int) 39,
		'function' => 'run',
		'class' => 'Cake\Http\Server',
		'object' => object(Cake\Http\Server) {},
		'type' => '->',
		'args' => []
	]
]
$frame = [
	'file' => '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php',
	'line' => (int) 74,
	'function' => 'offsetGet',
	'class' => 'Cake\Http\ServerRequest',
	'object' => object(Cake\Http\ServerRequest) {
		trustProxy => false
		[protected] params => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] data => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] query => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] cookies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _environment => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] url => 'latest-news-updates/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722/print'
		[protected] base => ''
		[protected] webroot => '/'
		[protected] here => '/latest-news-updates/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722/print'
		[protected] trustedProxies => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] _input => null
		[protected] _detectors => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] _detectorCache => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] stream => object(Zend\Diactoros\PhpInputStream) {}
		[protected] uri => object(Zend\Diactoros\Uri) {}
		[protected] session => object(Cake\Http\Session) {}
		[protected] attributes => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] emulatedAttributes => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
		[protected] uploadedFiles => [[maximum depth reached]]
		[protected] protocol => null
		[protected] requestTarget => null
		[private] deprecatedProperties => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	},
	'type' => '->',
	'args' => [
		(int) 0 => 'artileslug'
	]
]
deprecationWarning - CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311
Cake\Http\ServerRequest::offsetGet() - CORE/src/Http/ServerRequest.php, line 2421
App\Controller\ArtileDetailController::printArticle() - APP/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line 74
Cake\Controller\Controller::invokeAction() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 610
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 120
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51
Cake\Http\Server::run() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 98

Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Code Context
            if (Configure::read('debug')) {

                trigger_error($message, E_USER_WARNING);

            } else {
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 34617,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu, 7 September, 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4682722,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 34617,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;RTI Act,RTI Activists,transparency,national campaign for people&#039;s right to information,Central Information Commission,Central Information Commission (CIC),ncpri,Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT)&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;
-The Hindu

Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants

There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 34617,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu, 7 September, 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4682722,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 1 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 2 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 3 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 4 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 5 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 6 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 7 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 34617
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;RTI Act,RTI Activists,transparency,national campaign for people&#039;s right to information,Central Information Commission,Central Information Commission (CIC),ncpri,Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT)&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;
-The Hindu

Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants

There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="
-The Hindu

Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants

There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in..."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants<br /></em><br />There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.<br /><br />As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.<br /><br />Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.<br /><br />Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&rdquo;<br /><br />Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.<br /><br />Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.<br /><br />&ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&rdquo; he said, adding, &ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I'm hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&rdquo;<br /><br /><em>Lack of transparency<br /></em><br />In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&rdquo; the letter notes.<br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece" title="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$maxBufferLength = (int) 8192
$file = '/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php'
$line = (int) 853
$message = 'Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853'
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Code Context
            $response->getStatusCode(),

            ($reasonPhrase ? ' ' . $reasonPhrase : '')

        ));
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 34617,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu, 7 September, 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4682722,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 34617,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;RTI Act,RTI Activists,transparency,national campaign for people&#039;s right to information,Central Information Commission,Central Information Commission (CIC),ncpri,Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT)&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;
-The Hindu

Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants

There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 34617,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu, 7 September, 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4682722,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 1 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 2 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 3 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 4 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 5 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 6 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 7 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 34617
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;RTI Act,RTI Activists,transparency,national campaign for people&#039;s right to information,Central Information Commission,Central Information Commission (CIC),ncpri,Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT)&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;
-The Hindu

Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants

There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="
-The Hindu

Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants

There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in..."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants<br /></em><br />There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.<br /><br />As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.<br /><br />Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.<br /><br />Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&rdquo;<br /><br />Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.<br /><br />Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.<br /><br />&ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&rdquo; he said, adding, &ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I'm hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&rdquo;<br /><br /><em>Lack of transparency<br /></em><br />In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&rdquo; the letter notes.<br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece" title="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$reasonPhrase = 'OK'
header - [internal], line ??
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emitStatusLine() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 54
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Code Context
                    $value

                ), $first);

                $first = false;
$response = object(Cake\Http\Response) {

	'status' => (int) 200,
	'contentType' => 'text/html',
	'headers' => [
		'Content-Type' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		]
	],
	'file' => null,
	'fileRange' => [],
	'cookies' => object(Cake\Http\Cookie\CookieCollection) {},
	'cacheDirectives' => [],
	'body' => '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
        "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <link rel="canonical" href="https://im4change.in/<pre class="cake-error"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-trace').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-trace').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none');"><b>Notice</b> (8)</a>: Undefined variable: urlPrefix [<b>APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp</b>, line <b>8</b>]<div id="cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-trace" class="cake-stack-trace" style="display: none;"><a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-code').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-code').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Code</a> <a href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-context').style.display = (document.getElementById('cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-context').style.display == 'none' ? '' : 'none')">Context</a><pre id="cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-code" class="cake-code-dump" style="display: none;"><code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB"></span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">head</span><span style="color: #007700">&gt;
</span></span></code>
<span class="code-highlight"><code><span style="color: #000000">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;link&nbsp;rel="canonical"&nbsp;href="<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">Configure</span><span style="color: #007700">::</span><span style="color: #0000BB">read</span><span style="color: #007700">(</span><span style="color: #DD0000">'SITE_URL'</span><span style="color: #007700">);&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$urlPrefix</span><span style="color: #007700">;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">category</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">slug</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>/<span style="color: #0000BB">&lt;?php&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">echo&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">$article_current</span><span style="color: #007700">-&gt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">seo_url</span><span style="color: #007700">;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">?&gt;</span>.html"/&gt;
</span></code></span>
<code><span style="color: #000000"><span style="color: #0000BB">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #007700">&lt;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">meta&nbsp;http</span><span style="color: #007700">-</span><span style="color: #0000BB">equiv</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"Content-Type"&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #0000BB">content</span><span style="color: #007700">=</span><span style="color: #DD0000">"text/html;&nbsp;charset=utf-8"</span><span style="color: #007700">/&gt;
</span></span></code></pre><pre id="cakeErr67fb80ed45bfd-context" class="cake-context" style="display: none;">$viewFile = &#039;/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp&#039;
$dataForView = [
	&#039;article_current&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 34617,
		&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;,
		&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
		&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu, 7 September, 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&#039;,
		&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
		&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
		&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
		&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722&#039;,
		&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
		&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
		&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4682722,
		&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
		&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
		&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [[maximum depth reached]],
		&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;
	
	},
	&#039;articleid&#039; =&gt; (int) 34617,
	&#039;metaTitle&#039; =&gt; &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;,
	&#039;metaKeywords&#039; =&gt; &#039;RTI Act,RTI Activists,transparency,national campaign for people&#039;s right to information,Central Information Commission,Central Information Commission (CIC),ncpri,Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT)&#039;,
	&#039;metaDesc&#039; =&gt; &#039;
-The Hindu

Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants

There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in...&#039;,
	&#039;disp&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;English&#039;,
	&#039;SITE_URL&#039; =&gt; &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;,
	&#039;site_title&#039; =&gt; &#039;im4change&#039;,
	&#039;adminprix&#039; =&gt; &#039;admin&#039;
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	&#039;id&#039; =&gt; (int) 34617,
	&#039;title&#039; =&gt; &#039;CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;,
	&#039;subheading&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;description&#039; =&gt; &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;
-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&#039;,
	&#039;credit_writer&#039; =&gt; &#039;The Hindu, 7 September, 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&#039;,
	&#039;article_img&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;article_img_thumb&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;status&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;show_on_home&#039; =&gt; (int) 1,
	&#039;lang&#039; =&gt; &#039;EN&#039;,
	&#039;category_id&#039; =&gt; (int) 16,
	&#039;tag_keyword&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;seo_url&#039; =&gt; &#039;cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722&#039;,
	&#039;meta_title&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_keywords&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;meta_description&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;noindex&#039; =&gt; (int) 0,
	&#039;publish_date&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	&#039;most_visit_section_id&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;article_big_img&#039; =&gt; null,
	&#039;liveid&#039; =&gt; (int) 4682722,
	&#039;created&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;modified&#039; =&gt; object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	&#039;edate&#039; =&gt; &#039;&#039;,
	&#039;tags&#039; =&gt; [
		(int) 0 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 1 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 2 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 3 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 4 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 5 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 6 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 7 =&gt; object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	&#039;category&#039; =&gt; object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	&#039;[new]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[accessible]&#039; =&gt; [
		&#039;*&#039; =&gt; true,
		&#039;id&#039; =&gt; false
	],
	&#039;[dirty]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[original]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[virtual]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[hasErrors]&#039; =&gt; false,
	&#039;[errors]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[invalid]&#039; =&gt; [],
	&#039;[repository]&#039; =&gt; &#039;Articles&#039;

}
$articleid = (int) 34617
$metaTitle = &#039;LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat&#039;
$metaKeywords = &#039;RTI Act,RTI Activists,transparency,national campaign for people&#039;s right to information,Central Information Commission,Central Information Commission (CIC),ncpri,Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT)&#039;
$metaDesc = &#039;
-The Hindu

Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants

There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in...&#039;
$disp = &#039;&lt;div align=&quot;justify&quot;&gt;-The Hindu&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp;amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &amp;ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&amp;rdquo; he said, adding, &amp;ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I&#039;m hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Lack of transparency&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&amp;rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &amp;ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&amp;rdquo; the letter notes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot; title=&quot;http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece&quot;&gt;click here&lt;/a&gt; to read more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&#039;
$lang = &#039;English&#039;
$SITE_URL = &#039;https://im4change.in/&#039;
$site_title = &#039;im4change&#039;
$adminprix = &#039;admin&#039;</pre><pre class="stack-trace">include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51</pre></div></pre>latest-news-updates/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722.html"/>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
    <link href="https://im4change.in/css/control.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
          media="all"/>
    <title>LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat | Im4change.org</title>
    <meta name="description" content="
-The Hindu

Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants

There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in..."/>
    <script src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-1.10.2.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://im4change.in/js/jquery-migrate.min.js"></script>
    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">

        $(document).ready(function () {
            var img = $("img")[0]; // Get my img elem
            var pic_real_width, pic_real_height;
            $("<img/>") // Make in memory copy of image to avoid css issues
                .attr("src", $(img).attr("src"))
                .load(function () {
                    pic_real_width = this.width;   // Note: $(this).width() will not
                    pic_real_height = this.height; // work for in memory images.
                });
        });
    </script>
    <style type="text/css">
        @media screen {
            div.divFooter {
                display: block;
            }
        }

        @media print {
            .printbutton {
                display: none !important;
            }
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="98%" align="center">
    <tr>
        <td class="top_bg">
            <div class="divFooter">
                <img src="https://im4change.in/images/logo1.jpg" height="59" border="0"
                     alt="Resource centre on India's rural distress" style="padding-top:14px;"/>
            </div>

        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td id="topspace">&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr id="topspace">
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-bottom:1px solid #000; padding-top:10px;" class="printbutton">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td width="100%">
            <h1 class="news_headlines" style="font-style:normal">
                <strong>CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat</strong></h1>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td width="100%" style="font-family:Arial, 'Segoe Script', 'Segoe UI', sans-serif, serif"><font size="3">
                <div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants<br /></em><br />There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.<br /><br />As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.<br /><br />Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.<br /><br />Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&rdquo;<br /><br />Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.<br /><br />Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.<br /><br />&ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&rdquo; he said, adding, &ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I'm hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&rdquo;<br /><br /><em>Lack of transparency<br /></em><br />In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&rdquo; the letter notes.<br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece" title="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>               </font>
        </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
        <td>&nbsp;</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
        <td height="50" style="border-top:1px solid #000; border-bottom:1px solid #000;padding-top:10px;">
            <form><input type="button" value=" Print this page "
                         onclick="window.print();return false;"/></form>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table></body>
</html>'

}
$cookies = []
$values = [
	(int) 0 => 'text/html; charset=UTF-8'
]
$name = 'Content-Type'
$first = true
$value = 'text/html; charset=UTF-8'
header - [internal], line ??
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emitHeaders() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181
Cake\Http\ResponseEmitter::emit() - CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 55
Cake\Http\Server::emit() - CORE/src/Http/Server.php, line 141
[main] - ROOT/webroot/index.php, line 39

<head>

    <link rel="canonical" href="<?php echo Configure::read('SITE_URL'); ?><?php echo $urlPrefix;?><?php echo $article_current->category->slug; ?>/<?php echo $article_current->seo_url; ?>.html"/>

    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>

$viewFile = '/home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp'
$dataForView = [
	'article_current' => object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

		'id' => (int) 34617,
		'title' => 'CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat',
		'subheading' => '',
		'description' => '<div align="justify">
-The Hindu<br />
<br />
<em>Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants<br />
</em><br />
There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.<br />
<br />
As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.<br />
<br />
Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.<br />
<br />
Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.<br />
<br />
Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&rdquo; he said, adding, &ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I'm hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
<em>Lack of transparency<br />
</em><br />
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&rdquo; the letter notes.<br />
<br />
Please <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br />
</div>',
		'credit_writer' => 'The Hindu, 7 September, 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece',
		'article_img' => '',
		'article_img_thumb' => '',
		'status' => (int) 1,
		'show_on_home' => (int) 1,
		'lang' => 'EN',
		'category_id' => (int) 16,
		'tag_keyword' => '',
		'seo_url' => 'cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722',
		'meta_title' => null,
		'meta_keywords' => null,
		'meta_description' => null,
		'noindex' => (int) 0,
		'publish_date' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
		'most_visit_section_id' => null,
		'article_big_img' => null,
		'liveid' => (int) 4682722,
		'created' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'modified' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
		'edate' => '',
		'tags' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		'category' => object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
		'[new]' => false,
		'[accessible]' => [
			[maximum depth reached]
		],
		'[dirty]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[original]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[virtual]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[hasErrors]' => false,
		'[errors]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[invalid]' => [[maximum depth reached]],
		'[repository]' => 'Articles'
	
	},
	'articleid' => (int) 34617,
	'metaTitle' => 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat',
	'metaKeywords' => 'RTI Act,RTI Activists,transparency,national campaign for people's right to information,Central Information Commission,Central Information Commission (CIC),ncpri,Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT)',
	'metaDesc' => '
-The Hindu

Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants

There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in...',
	'disp' => '<div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants<br /></em><br />There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.<br /><br />As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.<br /><br />Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.<br /><br />Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&rdquo;<br /><br />Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.<br /><br />Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.<br /><br />&ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&rdquo; he said, adding, &ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I'm hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&rdquo;<br /><br /><em>Lack of transparency<br /></em><br />In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&rdquo; the letter notes.<br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece" title="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>',
	'lang' => 'English',
	'SITE_URL' => 'https://im4change.in/',
	'site_title' => 'im4change',
	'adminprix' => 'admin'
]
$article_current = object(App\Model\Entity\Article) {

	'id' => (int) 34617,
	'title' => 'CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat',
	'subheading' => '',
	'description' => '<div align="justify">
-The Hindu<br />
<br />
<em>Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants<br />
</em><br />
There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.<br />
<br />
As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.<br />
<br />
Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.<br />
<br />
Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.<br />
<br />
Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.<br />
<br />
&ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&rdquo; he said, adding, &ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I'm hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&rdquo;<br />
<br />
<em>Lack of transparency<br />
</em><br />
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&rdquo; the letter notes.<br />
<br />
Please <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br />
</div>',
	'credit_writer' => 'The Hindu, 7 September, 2017, http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece',
	'article_img' => '',
	'article_img_thumb' => '',
	'status' => (int) 1,
	'show_on_home' => (int) 1,
	'lang' => 'EN',
	'category_id' => (int) 16,
	'tag_keyword' => '',
	'seo_url' => 'cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled-vidya-venkat-4682722',
	'meta_title' => null,
	'meta_keywords' => null,
	'meta_description' => null,
	'noindex' => (int) 0,
	'publish_date' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenDate) {},
	'most_visit_section_id' => null,
	'article_big_img' => null,
	'liveid' => (int) 4682722,
	'created' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	'modified' => object(Cake\I18n\FrozenTime) {},
	'edate' => '',
	'tags' => [
		(int) 0 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 1 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 2 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 3 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 4 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 5 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 6 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {},
		(int) 7 => object(Cake\ORM\Entity) {}
	],
	'category' => object(App\Model\Entity\Category) {},
	'[new]' => false,
	'[accessible]' => [
		'*' => true,
		'id' => false
	],
	'[dirty]' => [],
	'[original]' => [],
	'[virtual]' => [],
	'[hasErrors]' => false,
	'[errors]' => [],
	'[invalid]' => [],
	'[repository]' => 'Articles'

}
$articleid = (int) 34617
$metaTitle = 'LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat'
$metaKeywords = 'RTI Act,RTI Activists,transparency,national campaign for people's right to information,Central Information Commission,Central Information Commission (CIC),ncpri,Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT)'
$metaDesc = '
-The Hindu

Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants

There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in...'
$disp = '<div align="justify">-The Hindu<br /><br /><em>Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants<br /></em><br />There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions.<br /><br />As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other.<br /><br />Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel &amp; Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date.<br /><br />Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that &ldquo;the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.&rdquo;<br /><br />Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018.<br /><br />Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it.<br /><br />&ldquo;We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,&rdquo; he said, adding, &ldquo;There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I'm hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.&rdquo;<br /><br /><em>Lack of transparency<br /></em><br />In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People&rsquo;s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. &ldquo;In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,&rdquo; the letter notes.<br /><br />Please <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece" title="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cic-backlog-grows-as-vacancies-remain-unfilled/article19638328.ece">click here</a> to read more. <br /></div>'
$lang = 'English'
$SITE_URL = 'https://im4change.in/'
$site_title = 'im4change'
$adminprix = 'admin'

include - APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8
Cake\View\View::_evaluate() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1413
Cake\View\View::_render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 1374
Cake\View\View::renderLayout() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 927
Cake\View\View::render() - CORE/src/View/View.php, line 885
Cake\Controller\Controller::render() - CORE/src/Controller/Controller.php, line 791
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 126
Cake\Http\ActionDispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/src/Http/ActionDispatcher.php, line 94
Cake\Http\BaseApplication::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/BaseApplication.php, line 235
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\RoutingMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/RoutingMiddleware.php, line 162
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Routing\Middleware\AssetMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Routing/Middleware/AssetMiddleware.php, line 88
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Error\Middleware\ErrorHandlerMiddleware::__invoke() - CORE/src/Error/Middleware/ErrorHandlerMiddleware.php, line 96
Cake\Http\Runner::__invoke() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 65
Cake\Http\Runner::run() - CORE/src/Http/Runner.php, line 51

CIC backlog grows as vacancies remain unfilled -Vidya Venkat

-The Hindu Of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, 13,796 were returned to appellants There are a whopping 24,302 cases related to information appeals pending with the Central Information Commission as on Thursday, according to the CIC website. This backlog is in spite of the fact that the Commission is returning a majority of appeals coming to it, citing lack of documentation, premature appeals or forwarding of cases to the relevant State Information Commissions. As per data available on the CIC website, in 2017 alone, of the 18,518 cases registered as appeals, the CIC returned 13,796 cases to appellants citing one reason or the other. Sources in the CIC blame the lack of sufficient staff strength as among the reasons why their backlog is increasing. Last year on September 2, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) had advertised for the post of two Information Commissioners that fell vacant after M.A. Khan Yusfi and Basant Seth retired as information commissioners on December 31, 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively. While the applications were invited well before the vacancies arose, no appointments have been made till date. Right to Information (RTI) activists have been protesting the lack of appointments and speedy clearance of information appeals at the Commission. In a letter addressed to Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO and Public Grievances) recently, activist and Commodore (Retd.) Lokesh Batra has highlighted that “the Government has failed to select and fill these posts while an RTI revealed that 225 persons have applied for these two posts.” Mr. Batra said that two more Information Commissioners at the CIC are due for retirement soon: S. Sabharwal on September 23, 2017 and Manjula Parashar on January 15, 2018. Madabhushanam Sridhar, Information Commissioner, CIC told The Hindu that the decisions for the appointment of ICs had to be finally made by the PMO as even the DoPT, which advertised for these posts, would act only if the PMO insisted on it. “We at the CIC have no say in the appointment process. The delay is definitely contributing to the increase in numbers of pending cases,” he said, adding, “There is an understanding that every Information Commissioner handles approximately 270 cases a month, that is 3,240 cases per year. So, when two ICs are not available, it adds a burden of up to 6,000 cases per year. I'm hearing about 400 cases in a month. I heard 30 cases just today in one day. This is too much and it will definitely affect the quality of the judgment.” Lack of transparency In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, members of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) highlighted the lack of transparency in the process of appointment of information commissioners. “In response to an application filed under the RTI Act, the DoPT has denied information about the process adopted for shortlisting candidates. The department has refused to disclose even the names of people who have applied in response to the DoPT circular inviting applications for the two posts,” the letter notes. Please click here to read more.