The Telegraph India: Jharkhand: Saturday, September 01, 2018.
Jharkhand
State Information Commission on Friday embraced two IT-enabled measures which,
if properly implemented, would go a long way in fulfilling its mandate
enshrined under Right to Information Act, 2005.
Chief
minister Raghubar Das launched a video-conferencing facility, connecting the
state information commission's office in Dhurwa with six Santhal districts, and
a mobile app to reduce the time taken for disposing of RTI appeals and cases
and improve the delivery system.
Talking
to The Telegraph over phone, state information commissioner Himanshu Shekhar
Choudhary said the online videoconferencing facility had been started in six
Santhal Pargana districts - Deoghar, Dumka, Godda, Jamtara, Pakur and Sahebganj
- on a pilot basis.
"We
have chosen the remotest locations to roll out the online facility," Choudhary
said, adding that slowly it would be extended to other districts depending on
the response.
Choudhary
said the videoconferencing facility would eliminate the need for the parties
involved in the cases to be physically present in Ranchi for hearing, thereby,
saving both time and money.
"At
our state headquarters in Dhurwa, a videoconferencing room has been set up
through which we shall connect to the districts to conduct hearings," he
said.
Hearing
at the commission level is held when an applicant doesn't get the reply for the
RTI queries filed by him at the district level or is not happy with the reply.
They
then file a second appeal that is heard at the state information commission's
office on a specified date and time fixed by the commission.
"The
online video-conferrencing facility will not require the parties involved to be
present in Ranchi for the hearing of the cases. It was both a time-consuming
and expensive process. Also, delays caused in terms of giving information or
resolution of cases will be minimised," Choudhary added.
He
said e-district managers or nodal offices had been appointed in each district
to handle the coordination aspect. "Soon, we will publish their phone
numbers so that people can approach them for any kind of assistance," he
said.
On
the mobile app, state information commission secretary Sudhir Bara said it was
mostly meant for uploading the required documents needed for online hearing.
"For
example, during the hearing if commission wants to see any documents, the
public information officer of a particular department against which a case is
filed, can upload the documents instantly through the app. The documents can
also be accessed by us easily," he said.
Do
you think the move will help clear the backlog of pending RTI cases? Tell
ttkhand@abpmail.com
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