Display names of medicines available in hospitals: SIC to Govt

Rising Kashmir: Srinagar: Friday, April 25, 2014.

The Jammu and Kashmir State Information Commissioner (SIC) has directed State government to ensure display of lists of names and availability of medicines in all the government hospitals across the State.

Dr. S K Sharma, the Information Commissioner has passed the order while disposing a complaint filed by an RTI activist Deepak Sharma.

In his five page judgment, the commission vide its order number SIC-J-A-46-2014/108 has directed the State government through Commissioner Secretary Health and Medical Education department to ensure display list of all medicines including life saving drugs available to the patients free of cost at prominent places in the hospitals and health centers for the benefits of the general public within a month’s time.

Earlier in his complainant to the commission, Deepak Sharma had sought a direction for the Hospital authorities to ensure compliance of section 4 of the J&K Right to Information Act 2009, which obligates a public authority to proactively display the information held by it.

Sharing details of case, Sharma stated that though government claims that many medicines including life saving drugs are made available to public in hospitals and other health institutions for free, but usually the patients are not given the medicines available in the hospitals and are asked to purchase these medicines from the market.

To find the actual position of such medicines available in the hospitals, he filed an RTI application to Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu and raised queries to know the details of all medicines including life saving drugs and other surgical products available in the stores of hospitals and also asked the details of medicines available in the store that has crossed the expiry date.

Being aggrieved by the reply of the PIO, the activist filed a complaint in the State Information Commission to issue order to the hospital authorities to display information regarding availability of medicines, proactively under section 4 of the J&K RTI Act 2009.

Now the Commissioner Secretary Health and Medical Education, Principal Government Medical College and Hospital and Director Health Services have been asked to ensure that the availability of all medicines is displayed at prominent places of all hospitals and health centers for the benefit of the general public within one month of passing of the order.