In response to an RTI filed on the information over procurement and supply of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits, the Telangana Public Health and Welfare Department said it does not have any control of the information pertaining to the procurement and distribution of the PPE kits amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The RTI was filed by Hyderabad-based organisation, Society for Safety of Public and Good Governance, seeking information about the number of PPE kits that the government has procured besides the month-wise details of hospitals to which they have been supplied, reported The News Minute.
The organisation also sought details regarding the manufacturing company the government had purchased the kits from, and the details of the payments made.
The department’s Director, G Srinivas Rao, said that his office has no control on the information of the kits, despite the state government stating that it provided PPE kits to doctors, nurses, medical staff and others who are on the frontlines of the battle against the coronavirus.
Got an interesting reply from @drgsrao office on important RTI on no of #PPE’s procured and distributed by @TelanganaCMO. If @ArogyaTelangana @TelanganaHealth doesn’t have info then who is responsible of data related to medical supplies @DonitaJose @WeAreHyderabad pic.twitter.com/1Lh9bHAM2p
— Society for Safety of Public and Good Governance (@SSPGHyd) November 15, 2020
A representative from the organisation told the media that the RTI was originally filed seeking information from the health department, but they transferred the application to the Director of Public Health, who said there is no information available.
‘As per Section 6(3) in the RTI Act, 2005, they need to transfer the application to the concerned department to provide the information if they don’t have it. However, this was not done,’ the representative as was quoted as saying.
An official from the Commissioner of Family Welfare said that all the information related to COVID-19 measures should come under the supervision of the office of the Director of Public Health, and not the department.
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