<p>Present information commissioner MM Ansari and Right to Information (RTI) activist Shekhar Singh are the frontrunners for the post.<br /><br />"The meeting is expected to take place today (Friday) evening as the Prime Minister has to leave for his trip to the US on Saturday," a government official said.<br /><br />The post of CIC fell vacant nearly a month ago when Wajahat Habibullah resigned to head the Information Commission of Jammu and Kashmir on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's request.<br /><br />The meeting is under a strict watch of Right to Information (RTI) activists from across the country who have been demanding that the next CIC be appointed through a transparent, inclusive and participatory process. <br /><br />The activists have also asked the government to make public the shortlisted candidates and how they were shortlisted.<br /><br />According to a senior official of the DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training), the nodal government department to handle RTI: "Present information commissioner M.M. Ansari and RTI activist Shekhar Singh are the frontrunners."<br /><br />Till a couple of days ago, Shekhar Singh was the favourite, but officials stated that at present the scale is heavily tilted in favour of Ansari.<br /><br />"Ansari's name is almost finalised," an official added.<br /><br />Shekhar Singh, an environmentalist, has been campaigning for several years for the RTI act and played a very important role in drafting of the RTI bill in 2004-05. <br /><br />Ansari has been severely criticised by activists for being soft on bureaucrats and not levying penalty on erring officials. <br /><br />The meeting was to take place last month but was deferred for unexplained reasons. <br />The activists had written to Advani, Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi to finalise the procedure and rules for the selection of new CIC chief.<br /><br />The RTI Act 2005 specifies the composition of the selection committee but does not talk of process like advertising and shortlisting for finalising the name.</p>
<p>Present information commissioner MM Ansari and Right to Information (RTI) activist Shekhar Singh are the frontrunners for the post.<br /><br />"The meeting is expected to take place today (Friday) evening as the Prime Minister has to leave for his trip to the US on Saturday," a government official said.<br /><br />The post of CIC fell vacant nearly a month ago when Wajahat Habibullah resigned to head the Information Commission of Jammu and Kashmir on Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's request.<br /><br />The meeting is under a strict watch of Right to Information (RTI) activists from across the country who have been demanding that the next CIC be appointed through a transparent, inclusive and participatory process. <br /><br />The activists have also asked the government to make public the shortlisted candidates and how they were shortlisted.<br /><br />According to a senior official of the DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training), the nodal government department to handle RTI: "Present information commissioner M.M. Ansari and RTI activist Shekhar Singh are the frontrunners."<br /><br />Till a couple of days ago, Shekhar Singh was the favourite, but officials stated that at present the scale is heavily tilted in favour of Ansari.<br /><br />"Ansari's name is almost finalised," an official added.<br /><br />Shekhar Singh, an environmentalist, has been campaigning for several years for the RTI act and played a very important role in drafting of the RTI bill in 2004-05. <br /><br />Ansari has been severely criticised by activists for being soft on bureaucrats and not levying penalty on erring officials. <br /><br />The meeting was to take place last month but was deferred for unexplained reasons. <br />The activists had written to Advani, Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi to finalise the procedure and rules for the selection of new CIC chief.<br /><br />The RTI Act 2005 specifies the composition of the selection committee but does not talk of process like advertising and shortlisting for finalising the name.</p>