Selection of company for implementation of Ayushman Bharat Scheme
*Hesitation in furnishing information raises eye-brows
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 29: In a bizarre case, a Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Health and Medical Education Department has acted against the explicit order of First Appellate Authority and denied information regarding selection of a company for implementation of Ayushman Bharat Scheme in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The denial of information by an officer junior to the one holding the position of First Appellate Authority, which is an independent quasi-judicial body, has raised eye-brows in the legal circles and put a question mark on the tall claims of the Government about ensuring transparency in tendering and allotment of contracts.
Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed filed an application under Right to Information Act, 2005 with the State Health Agency, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana seeking information vis-à-vis copy of the agreement executed by and between the J&K Government (Health and Medical Education Department) and the Insurance Company Iffco Tokio executed after the expiry of the contract with Bajaj Allianz on March 15, 2022 with regard to the implementation of Ayushman Bharat Scheme.
He further sought copy of the criteria adopted by the department for entering into a fresh agreement, copy of the advertisements published in the newspapers or any other mode adopted for inviting applications and certified copy of the entire file with office notes which led to the selection of Iffco Tokio for implementing the scheme in the UT of J&K.
Vide reply dated June 8, 2022, the Public Information Officer State Health Agency Santosh Kumar furnished information about six points and about certified copy of the entire file with office notes he mentioned that this information is available with Health and Medical Education Department. He also transferred the application to the Public Information Officer, Health and Medical Education Department for providing information about the particular point to the applicant.
In the meanwhile, the applicant filed First Appeal under RTI Act before the First Appellate Authority of the Health and Medical Education Department and on the day of the hearing, the PIO Health and Medical Education Department participated in the proceedings through audio-conference from Srinagar and PIO State Health Agency and Advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed attended the hearing through video-conferencing mode from Jammu.
During the course of hearing, the applicant informed that with regard to Point 1 to 6 of the RTI application, the information has been provided by PIO State Health Agency while as Point No.7 pertains to the PIO, Health and Medical Education Department and the same has not been received by the applicant.
After hearing the arguments, the First Appellate Authority (Rajeshwar Singh Charak, Additional Secretary to the Government, Health and Medical Education Department) ordered that the PIO of the Health and Medical Education Department shall provide the information with regard to Point No.7 of the RTI application directly to the applicant in terms of RTI Act, 2005 within a period of 10 days from the date of issuance of order (June 13, 2022).
Shockingly, the PIO (Pamposh Ganju, Under Secretary) vide letter dated June 23, 2022, while referring the order of the First Appellate Authority, informed the applicant that the issue has been examined/considered and it is deemed proper not to provide information as the same falls under Section 8 of the RTI Act, 2005.
In this way, the PIO despite being junior to the officer holding the post of First Appellate Authority has acted against the order of an independent quasi-judicial body and this bizarre act has raised eye-brows in the legal circles and put a question mark on the tall claims of the Government about ensuring transparency in tendering and allotment of contracts.
“If the Government has nothing to hide from the public it should have provided all the information about the exercise which led to the selection of new company for implementation of Ayushman Bharat Scheme in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir”, legal experts said.
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