Eminent personalities other than those retired from government-service are also appointed as Central Information Commissioners (CIC), who enjoy service-benefits at par with Election Commissioners who in turn are at par with Supreme Court judges. But there is a great disparity in monthly pension-amounts after retirement. When those appointed from government-service enjoy regular pensions from their earlier service in addition to some additional amount for being Central Information Commissioner, those coming from other fields with no background of government-service get very low amount of pension after retiring from post of Central Information Commissioner.
Since Central Information Commissioners ultimately enjoy rank equivalent to Supreme Court judges during their posting, monthly pension-amounts and retirement-benefits should also be same for all. For those coming from government-service, difference of pension-amount from what they might be receiving from government-service may only be paid as additional amount for having held post of CIC, while others may get full monthly-pensions and other retirement-benefits from the respective departments.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
