Ongole: While congratulating Andhra Pradesh state Governor S Abdul Nazeer and the Andhra Pradesh Information Commission (APIC) for launching live streaming of RTI complaint and appeal hearings, the United Forum for RTI Campaign-Andhra Pradesh (UFRTI-AP) demanded more reforms in the commission to deepen transparency and build public confidence.

In a detailed letter to the Governor, the civil society organisation’s co-conveners, Chakradhar Budha and Emmanuel Dasari praised the groundbreaking initiative as setting a model for other states to emulate. They said that the citizens can now directly observe the Commission’s functioning, marking a significant advancement in governmental transparency.

However, UFRTI-AP highlighted troubling contradictions in APIC’s approach to openness. While hearings are broadcast live in the name of transparency, orders passed by some commissioners are uploaded to the official website while others are not, creating what the organization termed ‘selective disclosure’ that undermines the spirit of transparency. The activists also pointed to a more serious legal violation, that the statutorily mandated Annual Report under Section 25 of the RTI Act has not been published since Andhra Pradesh’s bifurcation in 2014, representing over a decade of non-compliance with legal requirements.