Vaccine Data Shows Centre Distributed 6.95 Crore More Doses Than It Got: RTI Activist
Lokesh Batra has asked on the basis of the Centre s replies to his RTI queries how the number of vaccine doses distributed or supplied was 23.18 crore when only 16.23 crore had been procured till May 2.
A syringe and a vial labelled COVID-19 vaccine are seen in front of the Indian flag. Photo: Reuters/Dado Ruvic
Rights12 hours ago
New Delhi: The Centre’s responses to RTI requests have led an activist to allege a difference of 6.95 crore doses between vaccines distributed and those received by the Centre, pointing to an inescapable and large discrepancy.
Coronavirus | Vaccines bought first using PM CARES funds cost Centre more
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Current price negotiated through bulk orders may not be replicable: Finance Secy
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As demand for vaccination increases, many States have said that they are facing a shortage of doses.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
Current price negotiated through bulk orders may not be replicable: Finance Secy
The first lot of vaccines were procured by the Centre using PM CARES funds at a higher rate than the subsequent rounds paid for by budgetary allocations,
The Hindu has learnt from the response to a Right to Information request by a transparency activist.
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We have rarely heard of any recoveries of penalties slammed on public information officers (PIOs), but this one surely takes the cake!
Neeraj Kumar Gupta, the central information commissioner, in an order dated 19 February 2021, states, “If the Central Information Commission (CIC) starts imposing penalty on the PIOs in every other case, without any justification, it would instil a sense of constant apprehension in those functioning as PIOs in the public authorities, and would put undue pressure on them.
They would not be able to fulfil their statutory duties under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with an independent mind and with objectivity.”
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The mystery of Prime Minister s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) and the attempts by everyone in the Union government to keep all information about it secret makes mockery of transparency in public life. Take, for example, the fact that PM CARES Fund is listed as a public charitable trust, although the prime minister (PM) in his official capacity is the
ex-officio chief of the board of trustees, which includes Union ministers of defence, home affairs and finance, who are
ex-officio trustees of the fund. The defence ministry website seeks donations for this Fund and, yet, says it does not have any information about the Fund.
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Social media, several organisations and media continue to raise questions about the structure, accountability and transparency of the Prime Minister s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) which is being labelled as a private trust by every government authority. Amidst all this, a query filed under Right to Information (RTI) shows that this private trust was given the .gov.in domain that is reserved for government authorities.
Responding to an appeal filed by Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd) under the RTI Act, the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which manages the .gov.in domains, says, .the domain pmcares.gov.in was allotted to PMO (apex body) complying with the guidelines for allocation of registration at the third level under .gov.in domain zone dated 23 October 2019 , issued by the internet governance division, ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY).