Andhra government sets up information commission

Over three years after the bifurcation of the state, the Andhra Pradesh government today constituted the information commission as mandated under the RTI Act.
The Andhra Pradesh Information Commission has been set up under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The quasi- judicial body deals with the complaints and second appeals filed against public information officers and appellate authorities respectively.
With the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana directing AP to appoint information commissioners within six weeks, the government, as a precursor, constituted the commission, official sources said today.
"In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of Section 15 of Right to Information Act, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, hereby, constitutes the Andhra Pradesh Information Commission to exercise the powers conferred on and to perform the functions assigned to it under the Act," said General Administration Department Special Chief Secretary Lingaraj Panigrahi in an order.

The commission would function from a rented premises at Mangalagiri in the Amaravati capital region, the order said.
Though the state bifurcation took place on June 2, 2014, the AP Information Commission of the erstwhile united state was not divided.
The term of office of the information commissioners appointed under the RTI Act also ended last year.
The HC, in a ruling on a writ petition last week, directed the state government to complete the appointment process within six weeks.