Now, track your RTI appeal online

Times of India: Chennai: Tuesday, 09 September 2014.

The Tamil Nadu state information commission, often in the news for the wrong reasons, is now set to facilitate a system where applicants seeking information under the Right to Information Act can track their appeals.

The system, through which case details will be provided to RTI applicants via SMS, is expected to be in place by month-end. Those filing appeals with the state information commission will receive an SMS mentioning the case number and the date of hearing. The commission now sends notices to applicants by post.

The facility will be available to only those who mention their mobile phone numbers on appeals and make a specific request to avail of the facility. The commission had conducted discussions with Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Elcot), National Informatics Centre (NIC) and mobile service providers like BSNL to develop the software and integrate the messaging service.

Under the plan, every RTI petitioner will receive three text messages - the first when the case number is generated, the second after the case is posted for hearing and the third when it is disposed.

Initially, an information commission official said, they would send only the first message to applicants on a trial basis. The petitioner will be able to track the application by the case number. "Applicants can also use case numbers to get information and check the status of the case on www.tnsic.gov.in," he said. Details such as the names of petitioners and respondents, case number and address will be available on the website, he added.

The commission, which each year receives as many as 56,000 appeals, is hamstrung by a severe shortage of manpower and funds.

Asked if there was a plan to introduce an online appeal filing system for applicants on the lines of the a system in Bihar, he said a proposal had been sent to the government. "We haven't received any response."

Under the system that is in vogue in Bihar, citizens can file RTI applications by simply dialling the Jaankari helpline number that was launched in 2007. The operator receiving the call drafts the application and sends it to the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the department concerned for providing the requisite information to the applicant. RTI activists in Tamil Nadu have for long been demanding that the government replicate that system in the state.