'Proactively disclose data on death of Indians'
New Delhi: The Central Information Commission has directed the Indian Missions in six Gulf countries to proactively disclose data in future on any death of Indians there mentioning the year of death, total numbers, gender and the cause of death, if available
The order came on a plea of VenkateshNayak of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative who had approached Indian Missions in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar seeking to know the year-wise list of names, age, sex, and occupation of Indian workers who had died in the period from January 1, 2012.
He had also sought information on the cause of death as mentioned in the death certificates but was dissatisfied with their response.
In his decision, Chief Information Commissioner YK Sinha said disclosure of certain details as sought by Nayak can lead to its misuse, hence the Commission is not inclined to allow disclosure of the information which is likely to be used in abusing the process of law.
"Under the circumstances, balancing larger public interest with the right to privacy of the deceased and their families, the Commission hereby directs the various Respondents who are parties in this case to disclose data in future regarding the year of death, the total number of deaths of Indians, sex of the deceased and cause of death, if available," Sinha ordered.
He directed the External Affairs Ministry to apprise Indian Missions and Posts to take steps for the suomotu disclosure of the above information in the future in accordance with Section 4 (1) of the RTI Act, 2005.
Sinha told the Missions that there are variations in their RTI responses on the issue and they should provide "uniform" responses to the applications filed by Nayak.
In its response to Nayak, the Indian Embassy in Doha had said it does not maintain such a list, and if such a list of 1500 persons is compiled, it would disproportionately divert its resources.
It also said in cases of suicide, disclosing name and occupation will not serve any larger public interest and families in such cases do not want the names of their loved ones disclosed.
Other embassies also provided only partial information following which Nak approached the Commission with his appeal.
During the hearing, Nayak argued that the information sought is in the larger public interest as substantial foreign remittances made by Indian workers working outside India are a major source of foreign exchange for India.
