The Hindu: Kolkata: Thursday, 30 January 2025.
Sabir Ahamed is a researcher at the Amartya Sen-founded Pratichi Trust and is the convener of Know Your Neighbour, an initiative that aims at promoting communal harmony in West Bengal
A well-known Right to
Information (RTI) activist who has been wanting to know the social identities
of teaching staff how many SC, ST, OBC, minority appointees in all
government-run medical colleges in West Bengal and who has hardly got positive
response from the institutions, with some even asking for his citizenship, now
has his RTI application rejected even by the State Government, which said it
was illegal to reveal such information.
“Furnishing of personal information about a faculty/an administrative officer is barred under Sections 8 I(e) and 8 I(j) of the RTI Act, 2005, being information hold in a fiduciary capacity by employer of the employee and therefore, cannot be furnished,” the appellate authority and Senior Special Secretary in the Department of Health said in reply to an RTI query by Sabir Ahamed.
Mr. Ahamed is a researcher at the Amartya Sen-founded Pratichi Trust and is the convener of Know Your Neighbour, an initiative that aims at promoting communal harmony in West Bengal through heritage walks and encouraging the reading habit.
He claims to have filed over 2,500 RTI applications since the enactment of the RTI Act nearly 20 years ago, and this application, seeking details of the representation of disadvantaged communities in the 23 State-run medical colleges, was filed in November last year. He hardly got the expected response, with two of the institutions, NRS Medical College and Calcutta National Medical College, even asking him to prove his citizenship first.
“While working on the representation of social groups, particularly minorities, in health governance in the State, my preliminary research found that minorities are woefully underrepresented. There is no minority representation among Principals, Medical Superintendents and Vice-Principals in State-run medical colleges in West Bengal,” Mr. Ahamed explained the purpose behind his RTI query.
And now with even the State government refusing to part with the breakup of the social profile of the teaching staff, citing law, the activist said, “The data will expose the under-representation of social groups in medical governance, and hence the department is reluctant to provide the information.”
According to him, only six institutions have given him the information he sought: Murshidabad Medical College, Purulia Deben Mahata Medical College, Rampurhat Government Medical College, Jalpaiguri Government Medical College, Calcutta Medical College, NRS Medical College, and Calcutta National Medical College (that last two had initially demanded proof of his citizenship).
Sabir Ahamed is a researcher at the Amartya Sen-founded Pratichi Trust and is the convener of Know Your Neighbour, an initiative that aims at promoting communal harmony in West Bengal
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| Sabir Ahamed, Researcher at the Amartya Sen-founded Pratichi Trust |
“Furnishing of personal information about a faculty/an administrative officer is barred under Sections 8 I(e) and 8 I(j) of the RTI Act, 2005, being information hold in a fiduciary capacity by employer of the employee and therefore, cannot be furnished,” the appellate authority and Senior Special Secretary in the Department of Health said in reply to an RTI query by Sabir Ahamed.
Mr. Ahamed is a researcher at the Amartya Sen-founded Pratichi Trust and is the convener of Know Your Neighbour, an initiative that aims at promoting communal harmony in West Bengal through heritage walks and encouraging the reading habit.
He claims to have filed over 2,500 RTI applications since the enactment of the RTI Act nearly 20 years ago, and this application, seeking details of the representation of disadvantaged communities in the 23 State-run medical colleges, was filed in November last year. He hardly got the expected response, with two of the institutions, NRS Medical College and Calcutta National Medical College, even asking him to prove his citizenship first.
“While working on the representation of social groups, particularly minorities, in health governance in the State, my preliminary research found that minorities are woefully underrepresented. There is no minority representation among Principals, Medical Superintendents and Vice-Principals in State-run medical colleges in West Bengal,” Mr. Ahamed explained the purpose behind his RTI query.
And now with even the State government refusing to part with the breakup of the social profile of the teaching staff, citing law, the activist said, “The data will expose the under-representation of social groups in medical governance, and hence the department is reluctant to provide the information.”
According to him, only six institutions have given him the information he sought: Murshidabad Medical College, Purulia Deben Mahata Medical College, Rampurhat Government Medical College, Jalpaiguri Government Medical College, Calcutta Medical College, NRS Medical College, and Calcutta National Medical College (that last two had initially demanded proof of his citizenship).
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