Hindustan Times: Gurgaon: Sunday, June 23, 2013.
The State
Information Commission, Haryana has asked private hospitals to “voluntarily
place the maximum information”on their websites relating to the treatment of
the economically weaker sections of the society.
The
commission has also asked the government authorities to provide the
“permissible”information to RTI applicants seeking information about private
hospitals.
A bench of
state information commissioners passed the judgment in this regard on May 15
this year after Gurgaon-based RTI activist Aseem Takyar had asked whether the
records of private hospitals can be accessed by the public and if these
hospitals come under the RTI Act. Takyar had filed an application in the
information commission in September last year.
The bench
comprising state chief information commissioner Naresh Gulati, state
information commissioners Sajjan Singh and Maj Gen (retd) JS Kundu directed all
private hospitals to maintain accurate records.
“The public
authorities are advised that permissible information which is required to be
accessed under section 2(f) of the Act is to be disclosed to the information
seeker even if it is held by a private body... the commission advises the
private respondents to consider and to voluntarily place the maximum
information on its website relating to the treatment of the economic weaker
sections of the society belonging to the State of Haryana as per terms and
conditions settled between Huda and the hospitals,”the ruling said.
During April
2012-March 2013, the Gurgaon health department had nearly 20 per cent of its
total RTI applications directed towards the private health facilities, to which
they couldn’t respond.
“We have been
receiving several applications questioning the functioning of various
multi-speciality hospitals in Gurgaon. But we have to reject all of them as we
could not divulge any such information,”said Dr Renu Saroha, deputy civil
surgeon, Gurgaon Civil Hospital.
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