Sri Tarun Kanti Mishra former Chief Secretary of Orissa was sworn on 20th November 2010 as the new State Chief Information Commissioner by Governor Sri Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare at the Raj Bhawan. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Minister of Information and Public Relations Prafulla Samal, State Information Commissioner Jagadananda and Sri Pramod Kumar Mohanty, and other dignitaries were also present in the function.

Hon’ble Sri DN Padhi was administered the oath of office by His Excellency Sri Rameshwar Thakur, former Governor of Orissa on Nevember 20, 2005 at a special function held in the Raj Bhawan, Bhubaneswar. In terms of Section 16(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 (22 of 2005) Hon’ble Sri DN Padhi demitted the said office today (19/11/10) in the afternoon, on completion of 5 years tenure at the age of 64 years.

The State Information Commissioners, Officers and Staff of the Orissa Information Commission gave an emotional and heartfelt farewell to Sri DN Padhi, IAS(R) who is the Founder and the first State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa and laid the foundations of an effective, innovative and IT-compliant State Commission. All his unique State and Nationally acclaimed contributions were recounted by them. Sri Padhi demitted office at 4 P.M. on Friday, 19/11/10.

Hon’ble Sri DN Padhi, as the Chief Guest, addressed the Senior Officers of the East Coast Railways, Bhubaneswar in their Headquarters office on “RTI Act, 2005 and Democracy in India”. The same was greatly appreciated. The meeting was presided over by Sri A.K. Vohra, General Manager, ECo Railways.

Before demitting office of the Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa on completion of 5 years tenure under the RTI Act, 2005, Sri DN Padhi called on Sri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Orissa at 5.30 P.M. on 16/11/10, in the State Secretariat who while appreciating all the innovations and initiatives taken for effective implementation of the Act, profusely congratulated him for the good work done. Sri Padhi also called on His Excellency Sri M.C. Bhandare, Governor of Orissa in the Raj Bhawan at 12.30 P.M on 17/11/10. His Excellency applauded the initiatives taken in the Orissa Information Commission and greatly appreciated the outstanding work particularly to help the tribal people and the poor citizens.

Sri DN Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa presided over the Interactive Training Programme on GRAMSAT held today from 2.30PM to 5.00 PM at OSAC (erstwhile ORSAC). Majority of the districts participated in the programme with intense enthusiasm by the officers of the Public Authorities. Sri Jagadananda, State Information Commissioner and Sri Kashinath Sahoo, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Orissa Information Commission also participated in the programme. Sri Bibu Das, Lecturer, SIET anchored the programme.

Continuing the new initiative Sri DN Padhi, Hon'ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa held video hearing of cases on 30/10/10 relating to Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh and Puri districts. At the close of the video hearing, an RTI Activist of Nayagarh district congratulated the Orissa Information Commission on this initiative. It is relevant to mention here that a similar video hearing was held on 09/08/10 for the first time in Orissa by Sri DN Padhi when cases of the Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak and Balasore districts were heard and decisions given.

RTI week was celebrated in the State from 5th-12th October, 2010. District level Interactive workshops and College level debate competition were held for the purpose.

Section 4(1)(c) of the RTI Act,2005 (Act for short) binds all Public Authorities to publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies for announcing the decisions which affect public. Various Public Authorities from the level of the Departments of Government in the Secretariat down below to the field, formulate policy and take various decisions from time to time which affect public. As provided in the Act, while formulating such policies or announcing the decisions affecting the public, the Public Authorities should public all relevant facts for the information of the public at large. 2. Complaints are brewing up before the State Commission alleging non-publication of relevant materials of various policies and decisions. Disclosure of such information will ultimately reduce number of complaints filed before the State Commission and at the same time the objective of the Act will be achieved. 3.In this background, the State Commission has recommended to the State Government that all Public Authorities down to the field level be impressed upon to comply with the provisions under Section 4(1)(c). The State Commission has further recommended that concerned Departments in the Secretariat take up quarterly reviews (in months of April, July, October and January) of the action taken by the Sub-ordinate organizations/offices.

Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Haryana, Shri G. Madhavan, IAS (retd.) visited the Orissa Information Commission on August 19, 2010. He was greatly impressed with the initiatives taken by and the innovation introduced in the Orissa Information Commission.

For the first time video-hearing was taken up today by Sri DN Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa. Ten cases of Balasore, Bhadrak and Mayurbhanj districts were heard by him as per the cause list for Chief Court. With the support of NIC, the Complainants/ Appellants and concerned PIOs and First Appellate Authorities of the districts submitted their respective standpoints before the Hon’ble SCIC from the NIC offices of the districts concerned. The Complainants/ Appellants also put forth their grievances in respect of their RTI request through the video mode. This is an initiative of the State Commission to ensure justice at the door step.

Sri DN Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa addressed the 9th Interactive Training Programme over GRAMSAT on 07/08/10 from 2.30PM to 5.30 PM at OSAC (erstwhile ORSAC). Sri P. K. Mohanty, State Information Commissioner, Sri Kashinath Sahoo, Commissioner-cum-Secretary and Sri S. K. Mishra, Registrar, Orissa Information Commission also attended the programme. PIOs, APIOs and several District level functionaries of 23 districts participated in the deliberations. Issues relating to the onus on the part of PIOs for citizen friendly approach and sensitization of Public Authorities were discussed in detail. The Hon’ble SCIC, Orissa clarified the doubts of the several PIOs and other senior officers present and answered various questions on implementation of RTI Act, 2005 and Orissa Rules framed thereunder. Matters relating to conduct of District Level, Block level and Gram Panchayat level workshops and submission of Utilization Certificates thereof were also discussed. Sri Bibu Das, Lecturer, SIET anchored the programme.

After the Video Conferencing facilities were set up in the Orissa Information Commission, for the first time Sri DN Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa held Video Conferencing with Collectors/ other senior officers of the districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Puri, on July 17, 2010 at 3.30 PM on the issue of submission of Utilisation Certificates for IEC funds released through them.

Shri D.N. Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner inaugurated today three new initiatives viz Internet Filing System, Touch Screen Computer, Video Conferencing Facility. Orissa Information Commission has launched a new initiative of electronic gateway system through which citizens now can reach the State Commission from any where in the world to file complaint/appeal on the internet. To make the system more accessible to the people, the State Commission can now receive online the complaints in plain paper and second appeal in form ‘E’, on its web site www.dbocommission.nic.in,. All the registered complaints and appeals receive a system generated case registration number (CRN) which can be used by the Complainant or the Appellant to directly check the status of his/her complaint/appeal petition on the State Commission web site. The Complainant /Appellant can pay the required fees by using credit or debit cum ATM card. The PIO of Orissa Information Commission can also now receive online application for information in form ‘A’ and the First Appellate Authority can receive appeal in Form ‘D’. The requesters of information may take advantage of the facility of internet payment for e-filing of complaint/ first appeal and this has been facilitated with the support of HDFC Bank. The State Commission is planning to make this facility available at all the Common Service Centers at the Block level and headquarters of the bigger Gram Panchayats and small towns. Apart from the services on the website and toll free helpline (BSNL), another way to track cases in the Orissa Information Commission is through the Touch Screen Computer, which the State Commission launched today. The Complainant can get his/her complaint/appeal status at the OIC reception counter using this facility. By just entering the case registration number (CRN) and by choosing the respective touch buttons one can know his/her case status. Video conferencing system installed in the Orissa Information Commission, Toshali Bhawan, Bhubaneswar was also inaugurated today which would help in the promotion of IEC activities and in future can be used for case hearing after establishing network with such facilities available in the Government establishments in the State.

His Excellency the Governor of Orissa administered the oath of office to Shri Pramod Kumar Mohanty, IAS (Retd.) at a special function held today at 1.20 P.M in the Raj Bhawan, Bhubaneswar. He is the second State Information Commissioner now in the Orissa Information Commission.

The Orissa Information Commission in collaboration with the Orissa Space Application Centre, Bhubaneswar (ORSAC) organized an Interactive Training Programme over GRAMSAT from 10.30 AM to 1.30 PM on Saturday, May 01, 2010, which was chaired by Shir D.N. Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa. Majority of the districts participated in the programme with intense enthusiasm by the officers of the Public Authorities. This was also attended by Shri K.N. Sahoo, Commissioner-cum-Secretary and Shri Sarat Kumar Mishra, Registrar, both of the State Commission. The anchor was Shri Bibhu Das.

Sponsored by the World Bank and organized by the IIPA, New Delhi a Regional Workshop on “Towards more open and transparent governance in South Asia” was held from April 27 to 29, 2010 in the IIPA, New Delhi. This was attended by Shri D. N. Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa who made a presentation on the initiatives taken and innovations made in implementing the RTI Act, 2005 read with Orissa RTI Rules, 2005 in Orissa. The State Information Commissioner, Shri Jagadananda also attended and chaired the “Working Group for India”

Shri D. N. Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa inaugurated the RTI Training Programme on Saturday, April 10, 2010 in the Orissa Judicial Academy, Cuttack. It was organized for the First Appellate Authority in District Judiciary. It was conducted by Dr. D. P. Choudhury, Director of the Orissa Judicial Academy.

State Government have been pleased to order change of the name of the Government building “Toshali Plaza” located at Satyanagar, Bhubaneswar-751007 to “Toshali Bhawan” with effect from 20/03/10. This change of name had been suggested by the Orissa Information Commission.

Orissa Government has allocated Rs. 3 crore for the Orissa Information Commission during 2010-11 in the Vote on Account Budget passed on 16/03/10 in the Orissa Legislative Assembly. While Rs. 2.95 crore is from the State Plan, Rs. 0.05 crore is under the Centrally Sponsored Plan head.

The Annual Report 2008-09 prepared under Section 25 (1) of the RTI Act, 2005 was forwarded to the State Government on 11/03/2010.

Shri Tarun Kanti Mishra, IAS, Chief Secretary and Chief Development Commissioner, Government of Orissa, called on Shri D. N. Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa on 11/02/2010 at 4:30 PM. He was greatly impressed with effective functioning of the Orissa Information Commission.

An interactive programme was attended by Shri D. N. Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa, telecast on Doordarshan’s National Network, New Delhi on November 3, 2009 in the series “Evening Live Show”.

Orissa Information Commission is the first such Commission in the country where Shri D.N. Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner and Shri Jagadananda, State Information Commissioner and Prof. Radhamohan, ex-State Information Commissioner have sou-motu given the property statements on 30/09/09, 07/10/09 and 30/09/09 respectively.

Shri DN Padhi, Hon'ble State Chief Information Commissioner and Shri Jagadananda, State Information Commissioner attended the 4th Annual Convention of the Central Information Commission on "Strengthening of RTI" held on Octover, 12 and 13, 2009 and the Consultative Workshop on "Issues on RTI" organised on October 14, 2009 by the DoPT, Government of India both at New Delhi. The views of the Orissa Information Commission were greatly appreciated and the functioning cited as exemplary.

Scheme for supply of Xerox copy of evaluated answer scripts of different Examinations conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, Orissa, Cuttack.

Shri DN Padhi, Hon'ble State Chief Information Commissioner attended as Chief Guest, a Workshop on Right to Information Act, 2005, organized by Madhusudan Institute of Cooperative Management, Bhubaneswar at Unit-VIII, Bhubaneswar-751012, Orissa for senior officers, First Appellate Authorities and PIOs of the Co-operation Department and State Co-operative Banks.

Shri DN Padhi, Hon'ble State Chief Information Commissioner attended a Seminar as Chief Guest on Right to Information Act, Limited Liability Partnership and Value Added Tax. Organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Cuttack (EIRC) at ICAI Bhawan, CDA, Sector 8, Bidanasi, Cuttack.

The Orissa Information Commission has started Summer Internship Programme, 2009 from 29th May, 2009 for one month. The selection was done through the Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies, Bhubaneswar from among students of Law, Management and IT. 7 (seven) Interns have started the one month course of which 5 are girl candidates and 2 boy candidates.

Hon'ble State Chief Information Commissioner attended the Revenue Divisional Level Interactive Workshop on the RTI Act, 2005 organized by RDC, Central Division, Cuttack in his Conference Room, which was largely attended. Doubts were clarified, provisions of the RTI Act, 2005 and Orissa RTI Rules, 2005 were explained and the role of the APIO, PIO and First Appellate Authority highlighted.

During the financial year 2008-09 the State Government had made a budget provision of Rs. 3 crore, after detailed scrutiny, for the Orissa Information Commission. During the financial year 2009-10 a tentative budget allocation of Rs. 2 crore has been made by the State Government. The Orissa Information Commission has informed the State Government to restore the budget provision to the level of last year.

Despite 9 (nine) vacancies, out of a total of 10 (ten) SICs, the Orissa Information Commission has decided to start hearing on Mondays. This is inspite of the inadequacy in the number of SICs and supporting staff. This is a citizen friendly approach regardless of all difficulties.

Mr. Wajahat Habibullah, Central Information Commissioner, New Delhi made a courtesy call on Shri D. N. Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa at 3 P.M. on Tuesday, March 24, 2009. Discussions were held on items of mutual interest relating to implementation of the RTI Act, 2005. Shri Jagadananda, State Information Commissioner was present during the discussions.

A high level team of the World Bank led by Mr. Ravi Shankar, Senior Economist, called on Sri D. N. Padhi, Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa at 4.00 PM on Friday March 20, 2009 to discuss various strategies for helping them in bringing about more transparency and accountability in projects being undertaken with World Bank funds in Orissa.

As part of a strategy to reach out to the people of the State and provide expeditious redressal of grievances, the Orissa Information Commission for the first time, has started Circuit hearing at Sambalpur. The two day hearing beginning Friday March 20, 2009 is being held in the Conference Hall of Sambalpur Collectorate under Sri Jagadananda, State Information Commissioner.

Sri Kasinath Panigrahy, OSJS (Retd.) formerly Registrar (Vigilance), Orissa High Court has joined on contract basis in the Orissa Information Commission with effect from March 13, 2009.

As intimated by the Secretary, Orissa Legislative Assembly, Bhubaneswar, the Annual Report 2007-08 was laid by the State Government in the Orissa Legislative Assembly on 12/12/2008.

The Annual Report 2007-08 of Orissa Information Commission prepared under Section 25(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 was given to the State Government through the Chief Secretary-cum-Chief Development Commissioner, Orissa on 19/08/2008 for laying in the Orissa Legislative Assembly.

Sri Jagadananda, former Member-Secretary, CYSD, Bhubaneswar was sworn in as a State Information Commissioner by His Excellency the Governor of Orissa in a special function held in the Raj Bhavan on 07/08/08 at 12 noon.

The booklet titled "Frequently Asked Question" (FAQs) printed earlier in Oriya has been got  
translated to Hindi, by the Orissa Information Commission for benefit of the citizens comfortable 
with Hindi and residing in Orissa. Relevant to mention that the same Oriya booklet was  
translated same back into 8 tribal languages.

Dr. S. K. Sarkar, Joint Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and
 Pensions (DoPT), New Delhi visited the Orissa Information Commission on  27/06/08 along with 
Sri B. C. Jena, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, I & PR Department, Govt. of Orissa. Dr. Sarkar highly
 appreciated the functioning of the State Commission and termed it as one of the best in the  
country.

The High Power Committee constituted under the chairmanship of Hon'ble Chief Minister, Orissa
has selected Sri Jagadananda as a State Information Commissioner on 23/06/08. He will be filling
 up the assignment vacated by Prof. Radhamohan.

Orissa Information Commission shifted to its own accommodation in Block B1, Toshali Plaza,  
Satyanagar, Bhubaneswar-751007 on 14th April 2008 and started functioning from 15th April  
2008.

The State Commission has instituted "RTI Shield" in Competition for the purpose of popularizing 
the cause of Right to Information. An amount of Rs. 3 lakh was placed at the disposal of the 
Registrar, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack for creation of an endowment to meet the expenditure  
on organisation of Inter University Debate Competition for the "RTI Shield" among the students 
of the Post graduate faculties of the Universities of the State. The first debate Competition has
 been held in December, 2007.

The toll free RTI telephone Helpline (No. 1800-345-6777) of the State Commission is functioning 
in the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) Regional Branch, Bhubaneswar w.e.f. 
10.11.2006. It is funded by the State Commission.

A booklet in Oriya on Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) was published about a year ago. The 
same has been translated into 8 tribal languages viz. Desia, Koya, Kuvi, Kui, Munda, Soura, 
Santali and Sadri with the help of the Director, Academy of Tribal Dialect and Culture, 
Government of Orissa.

Sl. No.          Tribal language      Inhabited

(i)                   Desia                    Koraput, Nawarangpur, Malkanagiri

(ii)                  Koya                     Malkanagiri

(iii)                 Kuvi                       Rayagada

(iv)                 Kui                         Kandhamal, Kalahandi

(v)                  Munda                   Mayurbhanj, Jharsuguda

(vi)                 Soura                     Ganjam, Gajapati

(vii)                Santali                    Mayurbhanj

(viii)               Sadri                      Sundargarh, Jharsuguda

As informed by the Secretary, Orissa Legislative Assembly, Bhubaneswar the Annual Reports for
2005-06 (20/11/05 to 31/03/06) and 2006-07 were placed by the State Government in the State
 Assembly on 20/03/08. They are now available, on written request to the Secretary, Orissa  
Information Commission, to the citizens. They are also available on the State Commission  
website and may be downloaded without any cost.

Sri Arvind Kejriwal, Magsaysay Awardee and RTI Activist visited Orissa Information Commission 
on 19/11/2007 and 21/11/2007 and met Sri D.N. Padhi, Hon'ble State Chief Information 
Commissioner, Prof. Radhamohan, State Information Commissioner and other officers of the 
State Commission on both the days. He was quite impressed by the efforts made by the State 
Commission in the implementation of the RTI Act, 2005 in the State and its high rate of disposal 
of cases. Several concurrent issues were discussed.

Sri Arvind Kejriwal, Magsaysay Awardee and RTI Activist visited Orissa Information Commission 
on 19/11/2007 and 21/11/2007 and met Sri D.N. Padhi, Hon'ble State Chief Information 
Commissioner, Prof. Radhamohan, State Information Commissioner and other officers of the 
State Commission on both the days. He was quite impressed by the efforts made by the State 
Commission in the implementation of the RTI Act, 2005 in the State and its high rate of disposal 
of cases. Several concurrent issues were discussed.

Sri D.N. Padhi Hon'ble State Chief Information Commissioner, Orissa and Prof. Radhamohan State 
Information Commissioner,  handed over the Annual Reports of Orissa Information Commission 
for the years 2005-06 (20th November, 2005 - 31st March, 2006) and 2006-07 to His Excellency, 
the Governor of Orissa at Raj Bhavan on 16/11/2007 at 3 PM. They also handed over the Annual 
Reports to Hon'ble Chief Minister, Orissa in his Office Chamber in the Secretariat at 6 PM on the 
same date.

Smt. Veena Sikri, IFS former Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia and also to Bangladesh
visited the Orissa Information Commission on 07/11/2007 to learn about the procedure and
modalities of disposal of cases. She met the Hon'ble State Chief Information Commission, Sri D.
N. Padhi.

Shri L. K. Tripathy, IAS, Chief Secretary and Chief Development Commissioner, Government of
Tamil Nadu, visited on 25/05/07 the Orissa Information Commission to discuss the methods and 
procedures of Orissa Information Commission.  Hon’ble State Chief Information Commissioner,
Shri D. N. Padhi informed him of the set up and methods of working of the State Commission
which he greatly appreciated.