A ghost is holding up replies to RTI queries: Gwalior hospital Madhya Pradesh

A ghost is holding up replies to RTI queries: Gwalior hospital Madhya Pradesh

BHOPAL: Cannot give documents as the records room is haunted. This is apparently the reply haunting RTI activists who seek to know why their queries on admissions at Gwalior’s Gajra Raja Medical College (GRMC) have been going unanswered for years.

The activists seek to investigate alleged anomalies in MBBS admissions, suspecting that non-domiciles had fraudulently got seats in the domicile quota. “First, they said the documents have been seized by CBI, then they said the clerk handling it had been arrested by CBI. Now they are saying that the clerk died by suicide in the room where the documents were kept and it’s now haunted by his ghost so they are scared of opening the locks,” said Pankaj Jain, a healthcare activist, who has been trying to get the documents for over three years.

GRMC dean Dr Sameer Gupta told TOI: “The matter is not in my knowledge. I will get it inquired into.”

Jain recounted a Delhibased activist’s chase for documents from GRMC. “He sought admission records for the 1994 MBBS batch through RTI in September 2018. The medical college refused to provide the information, saying they could not find any record on the 1994 MBBS batch,” said Jain, adding: “It has come to our notice that GRMC has lost all records of several batches of students.”

He approached the State Information Commission , which held four hearings but GRMC is yet to give the information despite agreeing to do so before the high court,” Jain said, adding: “The commission disposed of the complaint in January 2021 without taking any action.”

The RTI Act and Public Record Act mandate preservation of important records.

It is well-known that some officials offer excuses to those filing RTIs. But this is the most bizarre of them. Senior authorities should take note. Such pretexts cannot be used to stop the public from getting information it has a right to know.