Raj Kumar Goyal, a veteran IAS officer, is set to become India’s new Chief Information Commissioner on December 15. With the CIC post vacant for months, who are the new Information Commissioners joining him, and what changes could this shake-up bring?
Raj Kumar Goyal set to lead Central Information Commission from December 15
New Delhi: Raj Kumar Goyal, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer is set to take oath as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on Monday, December 15.
President Droupadi Murmu will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Goyal, marking the formal induction into India’s top transparency watchdog. The position had been vacant since September 13, when former CIC Heeralal Samariya completed his term.
Goyal, a 1990-batch IAS officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram-Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, retired as Secretary of the Department of Justice under the Ministry of Law and Justice on August 31.
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Over his distinguished career, he has held key positions at both the central and state levels, including Secretary (Border Management) in the Home Ministry and several important assignments in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. His extensive administrative experience is expected to strengthen the functioning of the Central Information Commission.
The appointment of the CIC is recommended by a three-member committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.
The panel held a closed-door meeting to decide the next CIC, and although Goyal’s name was recommended by the committee, Gandhi reportedly submitted a dissent note questioning the selection criteria. The same panel also recommended the names of eight new Information Commissioners (ICs) during its recent meeting.
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Once the newly selected CIC and Information Commissioners assume office, the Central Information Commission will operate at full strength for the first time in over nine years. The commission is led by the CIC and can have up to 10 ICs. Currently, Anandi Ramalingam and Vinod Kumar Tiwari serve as Information Commissioners.
The panel has proposed the appointment of former Railway Board chief Jaya Verma Sinha, former IPS officer Swagat Das, former Central Secretariat Service officer Sanjeev Kumar Jindal, former IAS officer Surendra Singh Meena, and ex-Indian Forest Service officer Khushwant Singh Sethi as Information Commissioners. These appointments are expected to reinforce the transparency and accountability framework in government operations.
