The Andhra Pradesh Information Commission (APIC) today inaugurated a video-conferencing facility through which it could hear appeals and dispose of cases from across the state.

State Chief Information Commissioner C D Arha, inaugurated the facility, said video-conferencing would eliminate the need for appellants and respondents (officials) to come all the way to Hyderabad for the case hearings.

The APIC conducts 600 hearings on an average per month in Right to Information cases. It would use the AP State Wide-Area Network for the video-conferencing in all the district headquarters.

"We are probably the first state in the country to launch this facility which will ensure speedy disposal of appeals, Arha told reporters along with Information Commissioners R Dileep Reddy and K Sudhakara Rao.

The CIC, who would shortly demit office on completion of five-year term, said the APIC had been a pioneer in launching many initiatives for effective implementation of the RTI Act.

In all, the Commission received 1,65,175 applications since 2006 under RTI of which 1,56,392 were disposed of.

Of the total disposals, only 10,126 were rejected while 5,174 appeals out of 41,939 were pending with the Commission, he said.

The APIC imposed penalties ranging from Rs 250 to Rs 25,000 on officials who failed to furnish information sought by applicants in 33 cases.

"What best can be done is being done for effective implementation of RTI Act in the state. There is, of course, room for improvement. We are happy that AP is ranked among the top five states in the country in RTI implementation and emerged a model in many respects," the CIC pointed out.