Zeyaul Hoda. Telegraph picture

The Central Information Commission will conduct a video-conference next month with a rights activist in the town to explore the possibility of including private companies under the ambit of the Right to Information Act.

Bakarganj resident and rights activist Zeyaul Hoda alias Chhotu, 35, had petitioned the panel in 2008 for the terms and conditions for installation of mobile towers in rural areas and other relevant information. The panel, however, refused to divulge information as private companies do not fall under the purview of the Right to Information Act, 2005. After crossing several hurdles since, Hoda received a notice recently about appearing for a video conference with the chief information commissioner, Satyananda Mishra. The notice was a result of intervention of the President’s secretariat where Hoda had written in 2009 after failing to get information from the panel.

The video-conference, initially fixed for May 17 has been postponed to June 4. It will be conducted at 3pm. Hoda received the notice dated April 18.

District informatics officer Ahmad Hussain Ansari said the commission has set up a date for the video conferencing with Hoda on June 4.

Hoda, a resident of an area under the jurisdiction of Laheria Sarai police station, about 175km northeast of Patna, had demanded crucial information related to the installation of mobile towers in rural areas from the Central Information Commission.

He told The Telegraph: “After being a victim of a telecom company, I had filed an RTI application before the Central Information Commission on December 16, 2008 requiring information about the terms and conditions for installation of mobile towers, land documents taken by the telecom companies and whether they follow the norms during installing mobile towers in the rural areas. In response to these questions, the panel said it could not divulge any such information.”