Who Created Aarogya Setu? RTI Body Pulls Up Government Over Evasive Reply

New Delhi: Millions of Indians have installed the Aarogya Setu, a contact tracing app that the government pushed as an essential tool in the fight against the coronavirus. But while Aarogya Setu`s website says it was developed by the National Informatics Centre and the IT ministry, both have denied knowledge of who created the app in response to a Right to Information query.

The Central Information Commission has issued notice to the government for "evasive answers" on who created the Aarogya Setu app. "Denial of information by authorities cannot be accepted," the top RTI body has said. The National Informatics Centre reportedly said that the "Entire file related to creation of the App is not with NIC". The IT ministry transferred the query to the National e-Governance Division, which said: "The information sought is not related to (our division)."

The RTI body has also issued show-cause notices to Chief Public Information Officers (CPIOs) and the National e-Governance Division. The information commission questions in the notice why the government should not face action for "prima facie obstruction of information" and giving an "evasive reply" to the RTI application. "The Commission directs the CPIO, NIC to explain this matter in writing as to how the website https://aarogyasetu.gov.in/ was created with the domain name gov.in, if they do not have any information about it," Information Commissioner Vanaja N Sarna said in the order.