Uttarakhand’s first CIC RS Tolia no more

DEHRADUN: Senior IAS officer and former chief secretary of Uttarakhand, Raghunandan Singh Tolia, passed away at a private hospital in the state capital on Tuesday after a prolonged battle with liver cancer.
He was 68 years old and is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Tolia has also served as chief information commissioner (CIC) of Uttarakhand for five years between October 18, 2005 and October 18, 2010.His appointment as first Uttarakhand CIC came soon after Right to Information Act was implemented in 2005.
Tolia was also credited with making Uttarakhand Information Commission a people-centric organisation.
He was also one of the members of the search committee for the appointment of Lokayukta in the state.
Born on November 15, 1947, Tolia belonged to Bhotia community in Pithoragarh district.
After retiring as CIC, Tolia, popularly known as RS Tolia, had joined the Doon University as NTPC chair professor at its Centre for Policy Planning. He was also a member of Planning Commission.
Tolia loved to carry out research work on mountains and on hardship being faced by the people living in far-flung places.
“RS Tolia always loved to work for mountains. Through his initiatives over the years, Tolia wanted to inspire cross-sections of people to help protect green forests. He was always worried about deforestation,” said professor Ajay Rawat, former head of department at Kumaon University.