Indian RTI commission has sworn-in three commissioners

The end of February saw India increasing the number of commissioners to its Central Information Commission. The three new members who will be joining the commission are; Rajiv Mathur, Vijai Sharma and Basant Seth.

The incumbent commissioners were selected by a panel which included; the Prime Minister Manmohan Signh, opposition leader Sushma Swaraj, and the minister of law Salman Khurshid.

The decision taken by the Central Information Commission to increase commissioners is borne from the increasing pressure and demand to resolve access to information matters in India.

The addition of three more commissioners brings to a total of 8 of a possible 10 commissioners permissible under the RTI act. The good news is however without controversy. Prior to his appointment, Mathur was the head of Indian Secrecy agency. This has raised Indian government officials, who question the motives of those who have elected him for that position.