The Hindu: Vijayawada: Sunday, 14 September 2025.
Selective disclosure of orders and non-release of Annual Report raise questions on the Commission’s overall commitment to transparency, says United Forum for RTI Campaign
The United Forum for RTI
Campaign-A.P. (UFRTI-AP) has welcomed the live streaming of complaint and
appeal hearings by the Andhra Pradesh Information Commission (APIC), stating
that it will enable people to directly observe the Commission’s functioning and
build confidence in its processes.
In a letter addressed to Governor S. Abdul Nazeer on Saturday, State co-conveners of the forum Chakradhar Budda and Emmanuel Dasari said a troubling factor was that the orders passed by some Commissioners were uploaded on the official website, but those of others were not.
“This selective disclosure undermines the very spirit of transparency,” they said, pointing out that the statutorily mandated Annual Report under Section 25 of the RTI Act had not been released since the bifurcation of the State in 2014. “These contradictions raise serious questions about the Commission’s overall commitment to transparency,” they said.
They urged the Governor to direct the government and the Commission to introduce an online RTI filing system at the State-level so that citizens could submit RTI applications and first appeals without the burden of travel, postal delays, or additional costs (State Government’s responsibility).
They also made an appeal to enable filing of RTI applications, second appeal and complaints directly with the Information Commission, and said that even if the State government was not yet ready to create a full-fledged online RTI portal, the Commission could, within its powers, provide this facility (APIC’s responsibility).
Underscoring the need to publish the Annual Report, they also urged the authorities concerned to archive and make accessible live-streamed proceedings so that people unable to watch the hearings in real time could still benefit from this measure.
Selective disclosure of orders and non-release of Annual Report raise questions on the Commission’s overall commitment to transparency, says United Forum for RTI Campaign
In a letter addressed to Governor S. Abdul Nazeer on Saturday, State co-conveners of the forum Chakradhar Budda and Emmanuel Dasari said a troubling factor was that the orders passed by some Commissioners were uploaded on the official website, but those of others were not.
“This selective disclosure undermines the very spirit of transparency,” they said, pointing out that the statutorily mandated Annual Report under Section 25 of the RTI Act had not been released since the bifurcation of the State in 2014. “These contradictions raise serious questions about the Commission’s overall commitment to transparency,” they said.
They urged the Governor to direct the government and the Commission to introduce an online RTI filing system at the State-level so that citizens could submit RTI applications and first appeals without the burden of travel, postal delays, or additional costs (State Government’s responsibility).
They also made an appeal to enable filing of RTI applications, second appeal and complaints directly with the Information Commission, and said that even if the State government was not yet ready to create a full-fledged online RTI portal, the Commission could, within its powers, provide this facility (APIC’s responsibility).
Underscoring the need to publish the Annual Report, they also urged the authorities concerned to archive and make accessible live-streamed proceedings so that people unable to watch the hearings in real time could still benefit from this measure.
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