OGP slams CM & JB

Statesman News Service

BHUBANESWAR, Oct. 24 — Chief minister Mr Naveen Patnaik and leader of the Opposition, Mr JB Patnaik, have connived to render the Information Commission ineffective by nominating a serving bureaucrat to the post of state chief information commissioner, alleged Orissa Gana Parishad president Mr Bijoy Mohapatra today.

Claiming that the appointment of Mr DN Padhi, IAS as chief information commissioner was violative of the Right to Information Act, Mr Mohapatra wondered why the three-member committee comprising the CM, Leader of the Opposition and Panchayati Raj Minister Mr Damodar Rout had taken such a decision.

The OGP president called on Governor Mr Rameshwar Thakur today and sought his immediate intervention. The Governor should apply his mind, examine all angles carefully to the recommendation made by the government, said Mr Mohapatra in his memorandum to Mr Thakur.

The decision to nominate Mr Padhi, an IAS officer from the 1971 batch, to head such an institution has shocked the people of Orissa. Precisely because with scams and suspension to his name, Mr Padhi's track record is far from being impeccable which is the prime requirement for the post, said the memorandum to the Governor.

The people of the state suspect that the post is being utilised to rehabilitate an IAS officer who is on the verge of retirement and to mask transparency rather than to maintain it, it stated.

Citing provisions of the Act, Mr Mohapatra said chapter IV sub section (5) reads "the state chief information commissioner and the state information commissioners shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science & technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance".

Sub section (6) reads: "The state chief information commissioner or a state information commissioner shall not be a member of Parliament or member of the legislature of any state or Union Territory, as the case may be, or hold any office of profit or connected with any political party or carrying on any business or pursuing any profession".On both these counts, Mr Padhi does not qualify, contended Mr Mohapatra while referring to the charges hurled against Mr Padhi during the cyclone-relief operations.

It was this same Mr Naveen Patnaik and his BJD which had levelled serious charges against Mr Padhi who was the Special Relief Commissioner at that point of time, the OGP chief pointed out. It is pertinent to note here that Mr Padhi's role in the alleged polythene purchase scam was probed and he was accorded a clean chit.

Secondly, on 14 October, when the committee met to recommend the name of Mr Padhi, he was pursuing his profession as a bureaucrat in the ministry of energy. Till date he is continuing in the post whereas the Act states that the person should not be holding any post.Mr Mohapatra hoped that the Governor will seek clarifications from the government on the points raised in the memorandum