RBI Deputy Governor Post: Newspaper Must Be Ashamed Of Publishing Details Of No Public Interest

In what clearly appears to be a case of wanton misuse of RTI, Goenka family owned newspaper Indian Express, in a report dated 14 March, published information on MANY key applicants for the post of Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank Of India. Using the information it sourced through a RTI application, the newspaper divulged the names of several individuals who applied for the post. The newspaper listed out applicants that included current bureaucrats serving in key departments, distinguished economists and private sector executives. The central government finally chose Viral Acharya, the CV Starr professor of economics at the New York University Stern School of Business, as the new Deputy Governor of RBI.

It is really atrocious to publicise this, says noted economist and columnist Dr Anantha Nageswaran, referring to the Indian Express report.

He says in his post in The Gold Standard:

A friend forwarded it to me. First of all, it serves no useful public purpose. Two, it concerns the privacy of the individuals in question. They do not have to tell the world as to where they are looking for their next jobs, etc.

What would be important from a public interest angle is if the government violated any of the conditions for appointment and pre-qualification criteria in appointing Viral Acharya. If that is the case, some of the rejected applicants might have sought remedy and a revisit of the entire recruitment process.

When that is not the case, this news story is unnecessary and an unwanted intrusion of privacy and abuse of the ‘Right to Information’.

The newspaper should be embarrassed if not ashamed of what it has done.