A large number of RTI applications directed at the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) are landing on an abandoned "parallel" portal inadvertently opened by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), leaving applicants without responses and prompting the Central Information Commission (CIC) to order immediate corrective measures.
In the first week of January, Information Commissioner Jaya Varma Sinha was informed by the CGHS that its headquarters "neither received the instant RTI Application nor received the First Appeal at the initial stage on their online CGHS portal" as the applicants had filed them on "some other portal which has inadvertently been opened by the DoPT" and which remains abandoned.
The CGHS added that "their office has sent many requests to close the abandoned portal". Many applicants who sought information from the CGHS in 2024 had not received any response, prompting them to approach the CIC with appeals.
Taking note of the recurring issue, the commission issued an advisory under section 25(5) of the RTI Act, stating that there exists "a parallel RTI portal for the Respondent Public Authority, which has been abandoned, but few applicants are still filing RTI applications on that portal".
The CIC advised the CGHS to initiate steps, in consultation with the DoPT, for the removal of the abandoned portal and transferring the pending RTI applications to the active system so they can be dealt with in accordance with the Act.
The commission noted that the lapse surfaced only after hearing notices were issued.
"Upon receipt of the hearing notice from the Commission, the Respondent ... has provided the relevant information in terms of the provisions of the RTI Act to the Appellant," one of the orders said.
In one appeal related to a proposal to open a CGHS health centre in Punjab's Patiala, the CGHS told the CIC that the RTI application and the first appeal were "not received on online-RTI portal CGHS Delhi (Registration Code-CGHSD)" and were received only along with the CIC notice. The applicant was later informed that the health centre was approved.
In another matter concerning queries on reimbursement and complaints under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the CGHS submitted that the information sought "does not pertain to CGHS" and reiterated that the RTI application and the first appeal were filed on the abandoned portal.
