Chennai: Thousands of RTI appellants are finding it difficult to check the cause list and orders online as the Tamil Nadu state information commission’s website has been inaccessible for more than 10 days. They have also not been able to file a second appeal before the commission.The initial plea and the first appeal under the Right to Information Act can be filed via state govt’s e-governance website, rtionline.tn.gov.in, but the second appeal can be filed only on the information commission’s website. “Though the RTI Act does not explicitly mention it, the commission demands the appeal be filed in a specific format, which can be downloaded only from its website. So, keeping the website down for 10 days is not acceptable,” said Mahendran Thiagarajan, Chennai coordinator of the ‘Ten Rupee Movement’, which campaigns against corruption.Another RTI activist, Akbar Ahmed, said he was unable to access the order dated Feb 16 issued by chief information commissioner Shakeel Akhter in connection with the implementation of the National Human Rights Commission’s order. “Chengalpet collectorate furnished wrong information for my appeal. I filed a complaint petition. It was heard on Feb 16, but I couldn’t read the order since the website is down,” he said.This is the second time in six months that the web portal has been inaccessible for more than 10 days. Managed by the National Informatics Centre, which also maintains other govt sites, the commission’s website is the only gateway to access the commission’s orders on appeals, as well as the cause list to check if appeals are listed for hearing. Only with the help of the cause list can appellants request a hearing via video conferencing in case they cannot personally appear before the commission for a hearing.Officials at the information commission said that the website was under maintenance and will active soon.
