about Tamilnadu Information commission, The Hindu on 18/2/09

Drop in number of cases heard by SIC
Shyam Ranganathan
Commission receives 400 petitions a day
It has plans for more hearings in districts
CHENNAI: The average number of cases heard by the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission per commissioner per month has gone down since May, when four commissioners were added to ensure speedy disposal of cases.
An analysis of the hearings conducted by the Commission in 2008 (based on data provided by the Commission to an RTI activist) shows that the average efficiency has been reduced with only 11.7 cases heard per commissioner per month from May to December, whereas 18.4 cases were heard per commissioner per month between January and April.
Although the number of days when hearings were held has increased to an average of 12 days per month in the last seven months from 8 days per month in the first four months of the year, the increase in the number of hearings by groups of commissioners could have caused the reduction in the average per commissioner.
The analysis notes that the proportion of cases handled by a single commissioner has reduced from 82 per cent in April (79 per cent in January, 83 in February and 13 in March) to a maximum of 39 per cent in September and finally 10 per cent in December. With nearly 400 petitions received each day, the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission is heavily overloaded, according to S. Ramakrishnan, chief commissioner. Most cases are disposed of at the 'tapal' stage itself and only a few scheduled for hearing by commissioners and this takes up quite a bit of the commission's time.
He says in the first few months, the newly inducted commissioners mostly sat in groups to help in a uniform process of trial and to make sure judgments were standardised across commissioners. Soon more individual sittings could be conducted as all commissioners were on the same page, he says. However, to increase efficiency, Mr. Ramakrishnan says that the Commission will hold more hearings in districts.
He argues it will not be possible to hold more than 10 or so hearings each day at the Commission itself. Instead, commissioners will tour different districts and dispose of cases there itself saving time and money.
But another activist in Chennai says the system itself needs to be changed to increase efficiency. "It takes quite a long time for cases to be heard and disposed of. But the bigger problem is that there is no enforcement mechanism. If I don't get the information that the Commission says I should get, there is no recourse but to file another petition and go through the lengthy process one more time."
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