- President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of Heeralal Samariya as Chief Information Commissioner.
- Heeralal Samariya was currently serving as the Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission.
- He was appointed as an information commissioner on November 7, 2020. He is a 1985 batch officer of the Telangana cadre.
- Currently, there are two information commissioners while eight information commissioners’ post is vacant.
Central Information Commission
- As per the RTI Act, there should be a Central Information Commission (CIC) at the central level and state information commissions (SICs) in each state.
- Each Commission consists of the CIC and information commissioners. It can have a maximum of 11 members.
- The Chief Information Commissioner heads the Central Information Commission.
- The Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners hold office for the term prescribed by the Central Government or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
- The Chief information commissioner is appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the prime minister, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, and a Union cabinet minister nominated by the Prime minister.