No information under RTI due to lack of workers

The New Indian Express: Tamil Nadu: Thursday, 13 August 2020.

Can a petitioner be asked to come to the office to collect the information? While the Collector said that certain sections of the Right To Information (RTI) Act give this provision to the officials, the social activist, who submitted the petition, claimed otherwise.

Social activist and State Secretary of Aadhi Thamizhar Peravai Vidiyal Veeraperumal asked around 10 questions to the Virudhunagar Medical College Hospital (VMCH) authorities regarding Covid work in his RTI petition during early July. According to him, the officials asked him to come and collect the information from the office concerned.

Calling this treatment unacceptable, he said that there is no provision for the officials to call the petitioner to the office. "They have to provide proper information under the RTI Act. This letter is a futile attempt to divert or escape from the issue. Now, I strongly suspect that something is amiss. I have submitted the RTI first appeal regarding the issue," said Veeraperumal.

When TNIE contacted the Dean and official concerned at the VMCH, they refused to comment on the issue. However, hospital sources said, "In the midst of a pandemic, it is highly impossible to provide that detailed information as it demands additional work. If we have the details at hand, we can provide it easily." They added that there is a provision in the Act to ask the petitioner to arrive and get the details. The Collector also said that considering the existing situation and stress, all the details cannot be readily available.

Seconding Veeraperumal, RTI Activist and Founder of Makkal Vizhippunarvu Trust Hakkim said, "While the petitioner can demand the documents in person from the office concerned, the officials have no provision to instruct the petitioner to come to the office. It is highly unethical and the official can be penalised for asking the petitioner to travel to the hot spot of Covid infection amidst the pandemic, thus putting his life at stake." He also added that exemption from disclosure of the requested information is only provided for reasons mentioned under Sections 8 and 9 of the RTI Act; no other reason is valid.

Veeraperumal in his petition sought information about the number of RT-PCR kits provided to VMCH between March and June. He also asked for the number of patients, who got admitted to the hospital in that period and were tested using those kits. This apart, he asked for the details of the subsequent amount spent on their food and medicines, the total amount allotted for Covid treatment in the district, details of the expenditure and the officers-in-charge of the amount. Veeraperumal also sought details regarding the safety of conservancy workers and details of the special pay received by them during Covid and if they were provided personal protective equipment (PPE).

He told TNIE, "As a social activist, my main concerns were if any corruption was taking place with the Covid funds; many patients complained against the food and facilities provided to them. However, what I received was a letter from the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the hospital asking me to collect the details in-person from the hospital. The letter said that there is no assistant to provide the information because of Covid workload. In addition, the PIO also advised me to take all the precautions by myself.

He also alleged that the district administration had always been making them run from pillar to post before giving the actual information "This shows that there is corruption at all the offices," he added.