The Indian Express: Ahmedabad: Wednesday, 25 May 2022.
The Public Information Officer (PIO), in response to an appeal filed before the Gujarat Information Commissioner (GIC), has submitted that the information was refused by officials who anticipated that the data would “create an atmosphere of fear”.
There was “verbal instruction from higher authorities” of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to withhold the birth and death registrations from 2019 to June 2021 to preempt any fear among citizens, a senior officer has submitted in reply to a show cause notice from the State Information Commission (SIC).
The Public Information Officer (PIO), in response to an appeal filed before the Gujarat Information Commissioner (GIC), has submitted that the information was refused by officials who anticipated that the data would “create an atmosphere of fear”.
Ahmedabad resident Pankaj Bhatt had, last year, filed an RTI seeking the month-wise data of birth and death registrations recorded with the civic body during 2019, 2020 and 2021 until June.
However, AMC had refused to provide the statistical information. Following this, Bhatt had moved a first appeal
before Bhavin Joshi, the first appellate authority of AMC.
Bhatt had moved a complaint before the GIC challenging the disposal by the first appellate authority, following which Gujarat State Information Commissioner (SIC) KM Adhvaryu had issued the notice to the PIO.
Gujarat State Information Commissioner (SIC) KM Adhvaryu, in an order dated May 10, noted that the appeal was rejected without assigning any detailed reasons. The SIC had further sought a response from the PIO on why action should not be taken against him for “deliberately refusing to provide the information”.
In response, PIO Divyang Oza submitted before the GIC that the figures were withheld “according to verbal instructions received from higher authorities, (as) the release of death figures at the time would have likely created an atmosphere of fear among the citizens”
Oza further submitted that such information was not collected in a consolidated manner during the Covid-19 situation and would have entailed the civic body compiling the data from “about 50 different (wards’) birth and death (registrars) which would have taken a long time.” This was not done as AMC’s health department, under whose ambit birth and death registration falls, was “directly involved” in Covid activities. AMC has 48 wards and if Gujarat’s claims as made in the Civil Registration System (CRS) report 2020 report is to be believed, the PIO’s submission in this regard appears to be amiss.
During the appeal hearings before the GIC, RTI applicant Pankaj Bhatt had submitted that “only statistical details were sought in public interest” and that “every citizen has the right to know such general information”. Bhatt further pointed out that if higher officials had indeed refused to provide such information, AMC PIO should have cited the same rather than merely refusing saying the details sought were “third-party information”.
The SIC observed that the information sought by Bhatt “cannot be considered as third-party information in any way”.
In agreement with Bhatt’s submission, the order stated, “If instructed by a superior officer, the information sought by the respondent could have been denied with reasonable grounds instead of as third-party, but no such action has been taken by the public information officer or the first appellate authority, which is not appropriate”.
However, taking into consideration Oza’s submission that AMC was engaged in Covid activities, the GIC withdrew the notice issued under RTI Act section 20, which empowers the SIC to impose penalty on PIO for refusing information.
Notably, the CRS report for 2020 released earlier this month, records Gujarat as one of the states that completed more than 90 per cent of death and birth registration events within the prescribed 21-day limit under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act. The report further said the state was recording 100 per cent of the birth and death events. This indicates that even amid severe disruptions and lockdown seen during the pandemic, Gujarat fared well in maintaining its birth and death registrations for the most part of the year 2020.
Furthermore, as noted in the CRS report, Gujarat also uses a web-based application called ‘e-Olakh’ across the state for the purpose of registration of birth and death with centralised access to the data. “All gram panchayats, municipalities and seven municipal corporations have been covered under ‘e-Olakh’. One municipal corporation (Vadodara) has not been covered under e-Olakh as they have been using their own software,” the CRS 2020 report noted.
The Public Information Officer (PIO), in response to an appeal filed before the Gujarat Information Commissioner (GIC), has submitted that the information was refused by officials who anticipated that the data would “create an atmosphere of fear”.
There was “verbal instruction from higher authorities” of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to withhold the birth and death registrations from 2019 to June 2021 to preempt any fear among citizens, a senior officer has submitted in reply to a show cause notice from the State Information Commission (SIC).
The Public Information Officer (PIO), in response to an appeal filed before the Gujarat Information Commissioner (GIC), has submitted that the information was refused by officials who anticipated that the data would “create an atmosphere of fear”.
Ahmedabad resident Pankaj Bhatt had, last year, filed an RTI seeking the month-wise data of birth and death registrations recorded with the civic body during 2019, 2020 and 2021 until June.
However, AMC had refused to provide the statistical information. Following this, Bhatt had moved a first appeal
before Bhavin Joshi, the first appellate authority of AMC.
Bhatt had moved a complaint before the GIC challenging the disposal by the first appellate authority, following which Gujarat State Information Commissioner (SIC) KM Adhvaryu had issued the notice to the PIO.
Gujarat State Information Commissioner (SIC) KM Adhvaryu, in an order dated May 10, noted that the appeal was rejected without assigning any detailed reasons. The SIC had further sought a response from the PIO on why action should not be taken against him for “deliberately refusing to provide the information”.
In response, PIO Divyang Oza submitted before the GIC that the figures were withheld “according to verbal instructions received from higher authorities, (as) the release of death figures at the time would have likely created an atmosphere of fear among the citizens”
Oza further submitted that such information was not collected in a consolidated manner during the Covid-19 situation and would have entailed the civic body compiling the data from “about 50 different (wards’) birth and death (registrars) which would have taken a long time.” This was not done as AMC’s health department, under whose ambit birth and death registration falls, was “directly involved” in Covid activities. AMC has 48 wards and if Gujarat’s claims as made in the Civil Registration System (CRS) report 2020 report is to be believed, the PIO’s submission in this regard appears to be amiss.
During the appeal hearings before the GIC, RTI applicant Pankaj Bhatt had submitted that “only statistical details were sought in public interest” and that “every citizen has the right to know such general information”. Bhatt further pointed out that if higher officials had indeed refused to provide such information, AMC PIO should have cited the same rather than merely refusing saying the details sought were “third-party information”.
The SIC observed that the information sought by Bhatt “cannot be considered as third-party information in any way”.
In agreement with Bhatt’s submission, the order stated, “If instructed by a superior officer, the information sought by the respondent could have been denied with reasonable grounds instead of as third-party, but no such action has been taken by the public information officer or the first appellate authority, which is not appropriate”.
However, taking into consideration Oza’s submission that AMC was engaged in Covid activities, the GIC withdrew the notice issued under RTI Act section 20, which empowers the SIC to impose penalty on PIO for refusing information.
Notably, the CRS report for 2020 released earlier this month, records Gujarat as one of the states that completed more than 90 per cent of death and birth registration events within the prescribed 21-day limit under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act. The report further said the state was recording 100 per cent of the birth and death events. This indicates that even amid severe disruptions and lockdown seen during the pandemic, Gujarat fared well in maintaining its birth and death registrations for the most part of the year 2020.
Furthermore, as noted in the CRS report, Gujarat also uses a web-based application called ‘e-Olakh’ across the state for the purpose of registration of birth and death with centralised access to the data. “All gram panchayats, municipalities and seven municipal corporations have been covered under ‘e-Olakh’. One municipal corporation (Vadodara) has not been covered under e-Olakh as they have been using their own software,” the CRS 2020 report noted.
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