Central Information Commission
Eknath Pawar vs Ministry Of Home Affairs on 16 November, 2018
CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
Baba Gang Nath Marg, Munirka,
New Delhi-110067
F. No. CIC/MHOME/A/2017/102509
Date of Hearing : 31.08.2018
Date of Decision : 12.11.2018
Appellant/Complainant : Shri Eknath Pawar
Respondent : CPIO
Dy. Director-(CRS),
Registrar General, India
Through:
Shri Dheeraj Jain
Shri Pradeep Kumar Negi
Information Commissioner : Shri Yashovardhan Azad
Relevant facts emerging from appeal:
RTI application filed on : 13.07.2016
PIO replied on : 20.07.2016
First Appeal filed on : 09.09.2016
First Appellate Order on : 04.10.2016
2ndAppeal/complaint received on : 12.01.2017
ORDER
1. Vide RTI application dated 13.07.2016, the appellant sought the following information from Deputy Registrar General, CRS, Vital Statistics Division, New Delhi.:
Please provide us with the information about number of death registered in all 24 wards of Mumbai, please also provide the Causes of the Death with gender wise, Age wise, ICD CODE wise, ward wise and month wise from 1st January 2016 to 31" March 2016 separately. Hopefully this information is available in softcopy so please provide us a soft copy for the same.
2. The PIO/Dy. Director, VS Divisions, Office of Registrar General, India vide letter dated 20.07.2016 informed that the requested information was not available with the unit and RTI application was transferred to O/o Page 1 of 9 the Chief Registrar of Births and Deaths, Maharashtra for necessary action.
3. However, despite successive transfers, the information sought did not reach the appellant. This led to filing of the first appeal wherein the appellant spelt his grievance very clearly. The same reads as:
Information which was requested under Right to Information application dated 13/07/2016 to Deputy Director & Central Public Information Officer, CRS (Civil Registration System). Every year we receive Cause of Death data for all12 months from all 24 wards of MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai), in SAP (locally maintained software) format. This year we did not receive this information from the wards/Department from January 2016 to March 2016 as the software was being changed from SAP to centrally managed CRS software; and hence we filed an RTI application at Deputy Director, CRS, Delhi. Our application was forwarded to Director General of Health Services in Mumbai and from there this application was forwarded to MCGM's Public Health Department. Even the Public Health Department of Mumbai said that the information was not available with them as it is being centrally managed at CRS and that they have authority to input data, but they are not being able to generate reports from CRS. We are not satisfied with the Reponses to our application and we are filing this appeal on the ground that our application was not answered, but forwarded to Public Health Department of Mumbai while the data is managed centrally in CRS at Delhi. Instead of forwarding the application, the data should have had been generated from the backend of CRS software. Responsibility for producing answer to the RTI application should have been taken at CRS as it is the central authority where reports of births and deaths are generated centrally. Maintenance of this data is very vital under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. We request you to provide us with this data under RTL
4. The FAA passed the following order:
2. In this connection, this is to inform you that under the provision of Section 4 (3) of the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969, the Chief Registrar of births and deaths in each State has Page 2 of 9 been declared as the Chief Executive Authority for implementation the provision of RBD Act, 1969 and the Rules and order made thereunder. Accordingly, the Chief Registrar is the custodian of the data collected & generated under the civil registration system in the respective State. This office only facilitates the implementation of the RBD Act by unifying & coordinating the activities of Chief Registrar of different States & UTs.
3. It is pertinent to mention that the error reported in the software has now been resolved and the concerned authority should be able to provide the data. Therefore, for obtaining the data, you are requested to contact the Chief Registrar of births and deaths, Maharashtra or District Registrar of births and deaths (District Health Officer), Mumbai or any below a authority as suggested by them.
4. In respect of information sought regarding cause of death and ICD code wise details. You are requested to contact Shri R. B. Singh, Senior Research Officer & CPIO (MCCD) of this office for a suitable reply. His details are given below: [email protected] phone No. 011-
26177330.
5. This issues with the approval of First appellate authority.
5. However, the grievance was appellant was not redressed and he approached this Commission on the following grounds:
Information was requested under Right to Information application dated 13-07-2016 to Deputy Registrar General, CRS ORGI-Vital Statistics division. Reply received from their end on 20-01-20fi via letter no. 1A1712015-VS (CRS) RTI. Letter mentioned that the information was not available with the office of Deputy Registrar, CRS because of which it was forwarded to the Chief Registrar of Births and Deaths, Maharashtra. Later I filed an appeal on the ground that information which was requested was not answered, but instead, it was forwarded to the Chief Registrar of Births and Deaths, Maharashtra.Page 3 of 9
We even raised a point regarding the change in software from SAP to CRS to which we were told that the software issue was resolved and the data was now available with the concerned authority, but despite of appeals and follow ups with Assistant Health Officer (Mumbai) and Deputy Registrar of Health Intelligence and Vital Statistics (EVS), Pune we did not receive the answer.
Our ground to second appeal is that if the cause of death data is maintained centrally under the software of CRS (Civil Registration System), then why our letter is not being answered; but forwarded from Department to department. If PIOs are designated to provide the information under RTI Act 2005 why am I not being able to receive the data in spite of its availability with the CRS. Maintenance of cause of death data is vital under Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act 1969, and it has to be made available. RBD Act was formed not only to enter births and deaths, but also for statistical and demographic purpose. My request is to make this document available and accessible.
6. In the course of hearing, the appellant reiterate the aforesaid contention that the office of Registrar General of India is the final aggregator of all statistical reports under the Registration of Birth and Deaths Act, 1969. He asserts that the respondent PIO is duty bound to furnish the information sought. He asserts that due to implementation of newly incorporated software, the earlier local software of data compilation by Municipal bodies in Mumbai was discontinued. He asserts that every authority they have approached to secure the information in question has made some excuse and avoided responsibility to furnish information. He submits that due to introduction of new centrally developed software, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai is unable to access date of death registration relating to its own territorial jurisdiction. The appellant states to have sought this information in larger public interest on behalf of a NGO engaged in social welfare and elaborated upon difficulty being faced by him for past more than two years.
7. On the other hand, the PIO states that the office of Registrar General, India is an aggregator of data. He submits that states are tasked with the overall implementation under Section 3 of the RBD Act, whereas, the ground level record is maintained by Registrars appointed by respective Page 4 of 9 states under Section 4. He states that some states are using their own software and there are glitches in compilation of date due to technological incompatibility of different software in use. He further submits that precise cause of deaths is available with district level aggregator of data.
Decision:
8. The Commission finds the present appeal in larger public interest. Non cooperation of software as well as executing agencies cannot be allowed to defeat the larger goal of a welfare state. Software are developed for enhancing work efficiency and not to disintegrate the synergy between various public authorities.
9. It is worthwhile to refer to some of the provisions of the RBD Act, 1969.
Section 3. Registrar-General, India.--(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint a person to be known as the Registrar-General, India.
(2) The Central Government may also appoint such other officers with such designations as it thinks fit for the purpose of discharging under the superintendence and direction of the Registrar-General, such functions of the Registrar-General under this Act as he may, from time to time, authorise them to discharge.
(3) The Registrar-General may issue general directions regarding registration of births and deaths in the territories to which this Act extends, and shall take steps to co-ordinate and unify the activities of Chief Registrars in the matter of registration of births and deaths and submit to the Central Government an annual report on the working of this Act in the said territories.
10. Section 4 of the RBD Act provides for appointment of Chief Registrars by respective State Govt.
Section 4. Chief Registrar.--(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint a Chief Registrar for the State.
Page 5 of 9(2) The State Government may also appoint such other officers with such designations as it thinks fit for the purpose of discharging, under the superintendence and direction of the Chief Registrar, such of his functions as he may, from time to time, authorise them to discharge.
(3) The Chief Registrar shall be the chief executive authority in the State for carrying into execution the provisions of this Act and the rules and orders made thereunder subject to the directions, if any, given by the State Government.
(4) The Chief Registrar shall take steps, by the issue of suitable instructions or otherwise, to co-ordinate, unity and supervise the work of registration in the State for securing an efficient system of registration and shall prepare and submit to the State Government, in such manner and at such intervals as may be prescribed, a report on the working of this Act in the State along with the statistical report to in sub-section (2) of section 19. ........
Section 5. Registration divisions.--The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, divide the territory within the State into such registration divisions as it may think fit and prescribe different rules for different registration divisions.
Section 6. District Registrar.--(1) The State Government may appoint a District Registrar for each revenue district and such number of Additional District Registrars as it thinks fit who shall, subject to the general control and direction of the District Registrar, discharge such functions of the District Registrar as the District Registrar may, from time to time, authorise them to discharge.
(2) The District Registrar shall superintend, subject to the direction of the Chief Registrar, the registration of births and deaths in the district and shall be responsible for carrying into execution in the district the provisions of this Act and the orders of the Chief Registrar issued from time to time for the purposes of this Act.
Page 6 of 911. A reading of the scheme of the RBD Act clearly shows that the role of Registrar General, India is to issue general directions and to ensure coordination among various states. The primary task of aggregation of data is vested with Chief Registrar appointed by State Govt. under Section 4. The task is further divided to various other Registrars for respective registration divisions carved out under Section 5.
12. A curios glance on the website http://www.censusindia.gov.in/vital_statistics/CRS/CRS_Division.html shows that the CRS is aggregating data of deaths with corresponding cause of death and has taken an initiative to make a uniform software.
Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) The scheme of Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) under the registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) ACT, 1969 provides on causes of death, a prerequisite to monitoring health trends of the population. Data received in prescribed forms are tabulated as per the National List of Causes of Death based on Tenth Revision of International Classification of Disease (ICD- 10).
As per the Annual Report on "Medical Certification of Cause of Death" for the year 2011, out of the total registered deaths of 48,29,664 in 27 States/UTs, a total of 9,65,992 deaths (5,95,784 Males and 3,70,208 Females) have been reported to be medically certified.
The coverage of MCCD is limited to selected hospitals in urban area. Steps are taken by the states to expand the scope of MCCD to all the medical institutions.
Initiatives Uniform Software Application for Registration of Births and Deaths: A software application for online and offline registration of birth and death has been developed. This application covers the entire gamut of the Civil Registration System - Registration of events, Generation of certificates and Generation of Statistical Tables and Reports. The application that is presently available in English is being customized in 13 Indian languages.
Page 7 of 913. Despite the contention of PIO that the CRS Division of Registrar General, India cannot be held to be the custodian of ward wise data as sought by the appellant, the Commission finds that role of Registrar General in implementation of the RBD Act cannot be lost sight of.
14. The Commission finds that the present controversy is limited to only practices of data maintenance and preservation. There is no legal impediment in creation of two or more equally effective access points of information both at central as well as state level. It is rather a question of 'data mirroring' and the essential question raised in the present case requires forging new practices of data management which is in furtherance of RBD Act as well as RTI Act. The Commission also takes note of the submission of the PIO that it is comparatively difficult to register data of deaths with cause of death; as in contrast to data regarding births.
15. The judicious aggregation as well as preservation of 'data of death' is very important for the ensuring the quality of life of the living. The data is a crucial indicator of various factors which is a key for ensuring good governance and efficient policy planning. The Commission sees no reason to deny access of such important data to citizenry at large in a manner which facilitates a social audit of the quality of life across social & regional level. An information seeker must be able to know the precise data if deaths & births right from the fundamental unit such as village & wards. The whole process of registration would be rendered futile if, we as nation do not have access to the data recorded at each level of social existence.
16. Accordingly, the Commission in exercise of powers vested under Section 19(8)(a)(iv) of the RTI Act directs the public authority ie. Registrar General, India to change the present practices relating to aggregation of data under the RBD Act as received from various Chief Registrars across states. It is well within the powers of Registrar General, India under Section 3(3) of the RBD Act to issue 'general directions regarding registration of births and deaths in the territories to which this Act extends'. The directions issued by the Commission are also in line with the promotion of co-ordination and unification of the activities of Chief Registrars in the matter of registration of births and deaths'. Necessary changes, if required in the software used for the purpose may be made if required.
Page 8 of 917. The respondent PIO is also directed to access information sought from relevant quarter and furnish the same to the appellant within 4 weeks of receipt of this order. The Commission places on record appreciation for the appellant for espousing the present cause of larger public interest.
18. The PIO, Registrar General shall report compliance of the present decision within 3 months of receipt of the present decision. The appeal is allowed in aforesaid terms.
(Yashovardhan Azad) Information Commissioner Authenticated true copy. Additional copies of orders shall be supplied against application and payment of the charges prescribed under the Act to the CPIO of this Commission.
(R.P.Grover) Designated Officer Page 9 of 9