TN Hospitals Deny Furnishing Information on Attendance of Doctors, alleges RTI activist

The information was sought by the activist, who had filed the plea under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. However, except for the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TvMCH), all the major hospitals have refused to provide the information claiming that the details were "third-party" information, reports New Indian Express.

Back in 2017, the activist had approached the Madurai bench of Madras High Court on this issue. At that time, the High Court had given direction to the State Health Department for installing a biometric attendance system in all government health institutes.

Also Read: Lack of biometric attendance: HC asks GMC to initiate inquiry against HoD doctor

As per the latest media report by the New Indian Express, the information that the activist sought as a follow-up of the High Court order, was denied by all the major government hospitals of the State except for TvMCH.

While commenting on the matter, he told the daily, "I had filed the particular petition after I found that many government doctors who took up the private practice are not reporting for duty on time. The Court even issued a notice to the health secretary on a contempt plea in my case in 2018. After being pressed by the Court and the National Medical Commission, the biometric attendance system was installed in all medical college hospitals."

Further claiming that the hospitals run by the State government have stopped using the biometric attendance, he added, "So, I demanded information on the doctors' attendance, which should have been noted in the register manually or collected in the biometric system, under RTI Act. However, apart from TvMCH, the State-run medical colleges in Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchy, and district headquarters hospitals in Usilampatti, Ramanathapuram and Kallakurichi have refused to furnish the details."

Meanwhile, the Public Information Officer of a medical college has informed the daily that when this activist had sought the attendance details of the staff of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR and CE) Department, the State Information Commissioner had rejected such an appeal.

However, in this context, the activist informed the daily, "That particular order of the Commissioner was issued in a different context, and it cannot be applied in my case. Every taxpayer has the right to know about their servants' attendance. Also, I am the High Court petitioner in this regard."