The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Video conferencing at Information Commission soon

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Wednesday, Apr 20, 2011
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Video conferencing at Information Commission soon

Lavanya.M

The infrastructure for the facility is ready in Nagercoil, Tiruchi and Virudhunagar and network is ready

CHENNAI: The trial run of the video conferencing facility of the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) will be conducted on April 25. The facility will enable petitioners from other parts of the State to appear for the public hearing from their respective districts saving time and money.

On the first day, petitions from Nagercoil will be heard by the State Information Commissioner R. Perumalsamy.

The State Chief Information Commissioner K. S Sripathi will preside over the session, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.

“If the trial is successful we will extend it to other districts too. In Nagercoil, Tiruchi and Virudhunagar the infrastructure has been set up and the network has been established. We have also issued summons to the petitioners,” said Mr.Sripathi.

Speeding up the process

The facility will also help speed up the process. “The notice period that should be given to the appellant will come down from 15 days to around 6 days,” he added.

The appellant and the Public Information Officer concerned would appear at the District level branch of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) situated at the respective District Collectorate while the commissioner will preside from the exclusive video conferencing facility set up at the new office of TNSIC here.

A total of nine cases have been listed for hearing on April 25. SIC Commissioner T. Srinivasan will hear cases from Tiruchi on April 27 and Commissioner Sarada Nambi Arooran will hear cases from Virudhunagar on April 28.

A three-hour slot has been allotted by the NIC for the hearings in each of the centres and the cases have been chosen based on the date of receipt of the petition.

Limitations

“The set up has its limitations since the hearing will be restricted to the time slot allotted by the NIC,” said Mr. Sripathi.

The hard copy of the documents will be sent.

Keeping track of petitions

“We have also proposed to set up a system for petitioners to keep track of their petitions which will also help reduce delays and back-logs,” Mr. Sripathi said.

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