Trial run of video conferencing At Tamilnadu

Jeeva, TOI CHENNAI: The much-awaited video conferencing facility at the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) is likely to become reality next month. With the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) scheduled to complete installation of equipment at a cost of Rs 15 lakh at the commission's headoffice in Teynampet by October 31, officials in the commission said that the new system would be put on trial for ten days once installation is complete. "ELCOT has already demonstrated how the system works and it is now coordinating with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and BSNL. We have reminded ELCOT to complete installation as per schedule. Once it is over, the system will be interlinked with the existing video conferencing facility in the other district headquarters in Tamil Nadu in a few days for trial run,'' official sources in the information commission told The Times India. With various departments in the secretariat and in NIC's office in Besant Nagar already using the video conferencing facility, the commission wanted ELCOT to arrange for a separate line so that the commission's hearings could be conducted smoothly. "We expected the facility to be ready by July or August. However, it has taken longer as various agencies are involved. Now, everything has been finalised and we are awaiting installation of equipment,'' said S Ramakrishnan, chief information commissioner. "It will be a great help not only to appeallants but also to us, since every week two information commissioners visit the districts to conduct hearings,'' Ramakrishnan pointed out. Presently, the commission hears about 100 to 150 RTI appeals a day, most of them from outside Chennai. The commission's move to introduce video conferencing for hearing cases has evoked a welcome response from appellants, particularly from other districts. "We need not travel to Chennai to participate in hearings. We appeal to the state commission to arrange for online filing of appeals as implemented by the Central Information Commission (CIC),'' said N Baskaran from Pollachi. CIC, in New Delhi, has for more than two years now been hearing cases from across India with the help of video conferencing.