HYDERABAD: For speedy disposal of pending appeals, chief information commissioner Jannat Hussain has decided to conduct the proceedings through video conferences for the convenience of people seeking information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. He has already disposed 92 cases through video conferences to reduce work burden and ensure speedy justice. The Andhra Pradesh Information Commission (APIC) is also holding hearings of cases outside Hyderabad, in places like Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Karimnagar to dispose appeals and complaints related to nearby districts. Addressing mediapersons on the occasion of completing one year in office here on Saturday, Jannat Hussain said that several new systems were being adopted for dealing with appeals and complaints for the benefit of appellants. “Due to lack of staff including absence of information commissioner, there is work burden on me and other the existing staff,” he said. “As pending cases have been accumulating day by day, I am hearing cases dating back to Jan 2011 and doing my best to dispose of all the cases at the earliest,” he said.In all, the commission received about 5,867 appeals and complaints till June 30 this year and about 3,153 of them have been disposed of so far. Indicating the growing awareness of the RTI Act among rural people, the number of appeals received by the APIC has increased from 11 per cent in 2006 to 43 per cent in 2010. About 894 show-cause notices were issued to public information officers (PIOs) for not providing relevant information, he said. About 396 PIOs were warned in this regard, while enquiries were ordered into 24 cases and penalties were imposed on 53 PIOs. The APIC has recommended disciplinary action against four officers for not complying with the norms and refusing to provide information under the RTI Act. The officials said that people were making best use of the RTI Act for obtaining information related to land records, registrations and other revenue documents.
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