SIC directs private hospitals to disclose information related to EWS patients at Pvt hospital
28 Jun, 2013In the period between April, 2012 and March, 2013 almost 20 per cent of all application received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Gurgaon health department were directed towards private hospitals which went unanswered.
An application was filed with the state information commission of Haryana asking whether the records maintained by private hospital could be accessed through RTI Act. During the hearing of the case, the Haryana state information commission contended that any information pertaining to Section 2 (f) of the RTI Act is to be disclosed to the information seeker irrespective of whether it is held by a public authority or a private body.
The SIC has now directed all private hospitals to duly maintain the records and to voluntarily disclose maximum possible information related to treatment of economically weaker sections (EWS) of the society on their websites. It also directed the public authorities to furnish ‘permissible’ information about private hospitals to the RTI applicants.