New Delhi: In a response to Right to Information (RTI) Act inquiry the National Informatics Centre which designs government websites states that it is unaware of who created the Arogya Setu App used for tracking COVID-19 infections.
The Central Government responded to the controversy by saying that the app has been developed in a highly transparent way by combining the public and private sectors to fight the pandemic. The Arogya Setu app's website claims the Union Ministry of Information Technology and the National Informatics Centre, both central government institutions, as the developers.
The Chief Information Commission has issued a show-cause notice to various chief public information officers asking them to provide a reply to an RTI application. The commission's notice reminded that the denial of information by the authorities is unacceptable when asked who created the health service that has already been downloaded by millions in the country.
The notice also directed the concerned departments to appear before the commission on November 24. A show-cause notice has been issued to the Chief Information Officer in charge of the National e-Governance Division.