RTI reply shows foreign trip of hospital dean without approval
22 Feb, 2013
An application was filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to know the details of permission granted to the dean of the JJ group of hospitals to undertake a US tour to attend a training seminar for eight days.
The response from the department of medical education and research stated that they didn’t have any document concerning the permission for dean’s visit to United States.
However, a second application under RTI Act was filed with the secretary of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) seeking the same information. The reply from DMER stated that the permission letter for the tour of hospital dean was issued by the directorate dated December 19. Ironically, the seminar was concluded in November itself.
As per the government norms, prior permission must get a prior permission to attend any seminar or conference. The RTI applicant alleges that the permission letter must have been grafted after filing of RTI application and that the dean had taken the tour without proper approval.