The ‘Central Chief Information Commissioner’ has constituted a ‘Sub-Committee’ vide Notification No. 10/12/200/Admn/CIC dt. 12.01.2009. The members of the ‘Sub-Committee’ comprise one ‘Information Commissioner’ (IC) of the ‘Central Information Commission’; eight ‘State Chief Information Commissioners’ (SCIC); and one ‘State Information Commissioner’ (SIC).

The Terms of Reference of the Sub-Committee relate to six broad areas as follows:

1. To assess the extent to which the recommendations made by the Commissions under Section 25 of the Act, in the respective Annual Reports, have been implemented and, to identify the major reasons, if any, for non-implementation of Commission’s recommendations.

2. To prepare a comprehensive status report in respect of the major themes of the Annual Convention of 2008, namely, RTI and Good Governance, RTI and Democracy, RTI and Poverty Alleviation, RTI and Protection of Individual Privacy, and RTI Revolution in SAARC.

3. To assess the adequacy of facilitation process for accessing public held information, mainly in terms of compliance of various provisions of the Act for promotion of maximum disclosure of information.

4. To identify the best practices in implementation of RTI Act to promote open Government and to outline an action plan for adoption/adaptation by public authorities.

5. To evolve an approach and suggest a methodology for assessing and grading Public Authorities in terms of greater transparency and accountability and least corruption.

6. To suggest modalities for creation of a permanent broad-based Body for the purpose of Coordination of various activities of CIC & SICs.

The Sub-Committee Members are:

‘Central Information Commission’

• Prof. M. M. Ansari, (IC)

North Zone

• Shri P. S. Rana (SCIC, Himachal Pradesh);

• Dr. Mohd. Shakeel Ahmed (SIC, Bihar)

East Zone

• Shri Dhirendra Nath Padhi (SCIC, Orissa);

• Shri Nyodek Yongam (SCIC Arunachal Pradesh)

West Zone

• Shri Suresh Vinayakrao Joshi (SCIC, Maharashtra);

• Shri M.D. Kaurani (SCIC, Rajasthan)

South Zone

• Shri K. K. Mishra (SCIC, Karnataka);

• Thiru S. Ramakrishnan (SCIC, Tamil Nadu);

• Shri C. D. Arha (SCIC, Andhra Pradesh) – Convener

Mrs. Anita Gupta, IAS, Addl. Secretary, ‘Central Information Commission’ is the ‘Nodal Officer’ for the Sub-Committee.

In its first meeting – held at the ‘Andhra Pradesh Bhawan’ in Delhi – on 28.02.2009, the ‘Sub-Committee’ decided to associate the ‘Centre for Good Governance’ (CGG), Hyderabad and the ‘Yashwantrao Chavhan Academy of Development Administration’ (YASHADA), Pune in its work related to its ToRs.