Drug stock RTI for govt hospital

Ramesh took his mother to the district hospital for her blood-pressure tablets. The pharmacy counter turned him away. “Out of stock,” the clerk said. “Try the private shop across the road.” Three months later the same medicine was missing again. Is this hospital really out of stock, or are the medicines going somewhere else? Ramesh filed one RTI application. The reply showed the stock register, the indent (what the hospital asked for) versus the supply (what it actually received), and the expiry-disposal record. The gap told the real story. This page shows you how to do what Ramesh did.

A government hospital runs on public money. The medicines on its shelves are bought with your taxes. Under the Right to Information Act 2005, you can ask how those medicines are stored, supplied, and used. What you may not ask for is which patient received which pill — that is personal information protected by section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. But aggregate, institution-level facts — how much stock, how much expired, how often the shelf ran empty — are public-interest information and are disclosable.

The right to health is not just a slogan. The Supreme Court held in Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity v State of West Bengal, (1996) 4 SCC 37 (AIR 1996 SC 2426), that the right to life under Article 21 includes the right to health, and that a government hospital's failure to provide timely treatment violates Article 21. The Court ruled that lack of financial resources is no excuse, and awarded compensation. That is why drug-stock transparency matters: empty shelves are a constitutional concern, not a private headache.

Three layers of law and policy govern the medicines in a government hospital.

1. Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. This is the main law (Act 23 of 1940) controlling the import, manufacture, distribution, and sale of drugs in India. Under the Drugs Rules, 1945, Rule 59(1), every state appoints a State Drugs Controller (also called the State Licensing Authority), who licenses pharmacies, inspects drug stocks, and enforces quality and storage rules. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) publishes the official list of State Drug Controllers for every state and Union Territory, so you can name the correct officer in your RTI.

2. National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) 2022. This list names 384 medicines across 27 treatment categories. It was launched on 13 September 2022 and notified through S.O. 5249(E) dated 11 November 2022 under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, making them Schedule I of the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013 and bringing them under price control by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). In short: essential medicines are the ones a government hospital is expected to keep, and their prices are capped.

3. NHM Free Drugs Service Initiative. The National Health Mission's Free Drugs Service Initiative, under Operational Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 2 July 2015, requires every public facility — primary health centre, community health centre, sub-divisional hospital, and district hospital — to give out free essential generic medicines. The guidelines spell out what matters for an RTI: each facility must display a facility-wise Essential Drug List prominently, follow Standard Treatment Guidelines, run prescription audits, procure centrally, and distribute stock on a FEFO basis (first-expiry-first-out). The current Programme Implementation Plan (PIP) Guidance Note for FY 2026-27 keeps the same priority: 100 per cent availability of essential quality generic medicines across all public facilities per the IPHS Essential Medicines List, with DVDMS onboarding now a conditionality indicator and rational prescription audits mandated.

Most states now track drug stock on a computer system called DVDMS — the Drugs and Vaccines Distribution Management System. It was built by CDAC Noida for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the NHM. It records real-time stock, flags stock-outs, tracks expiry dates, and lets you drill down facility by facility; more than 23 states are onboarded. When you file an RTI about drug stock, you are effectively asking the public authority to pull numbers from this system (or its manual register equivalent). Naming DVDMS in your application helps you ask precise questions — instead of “tell me about medicines”, you ask for the DVDMS stock-out report for your hospital for the last three months.

A state government hospital is a state public authority. So your main RTI goes to the Public Information Officer (PIO) attached to the Chief Medical Officer of that hospital, or the hospital's own PIO. File a second, separate RTI to the State Drugs Controller / State Licensing Authority — this officer enforces storage and quality rules and can tell you whether the hospital's stock was inspected and whether any batch was rejected or recalled. If the hospital is a Central government facility (such as an AIIMS or a CGHS dispensary), the fee and rules differ — see Step 3.

Keep your application to clear, numbered points, adapted to your hospital:

1. Stock register: “Furnish the current stock register for essential medicines at [hospital name] as on [date], showing medicine name, batch number, quantity received, quantity in stock, and expiry date.”
2. Indent versus supply: “Furnish the indent (demand) raised by [hospital] to the central medical stores for the last three months, and the actual supply received against each indent, medicine-wise.”
3. Daily issue records: “Furnish aggregate daily issue records (total units issued per medicine per day) for the last 30 days. I am not seeking patient-wise or patient-identifiable records.”
4. Expiry and disposal: “Furnish the list of medicines that expired in the last 12 months at [hospital], and the mode and date of disposal for each.”
5. Stock-out alerts: “Furnish the DVDMS stock-out report for [hospital] for the last three months, showing which essential medicines were out of stock and for how many days each.”

The last sentence in point 3 is important. Stating that you do not want patient-wise records protects your application from being rejected under the privacy exemption — aggregate numbers are disclosable, patient names are not.

Here is the part most guides get wrong. The flat Rs.10 figure is correct only for Central public authorities, under the Central RTI Rules, 2012, Rule 3(1). You pay it by Indian Postal Order, demand draft, cash, or electronic means (through rtionline.gov.in). BPL applicants are fully exempt under Rule 5 — they pay nothing.

But a state government hospital is a state public authority. The fee is set by your state's RTI rules, and it ranges from Rs.0 to Rs.50 across states. Some states charge Rs.10, some Rs.20, some nothing at all. So before you file, check your state RTI rules for the correct fee. If you file online through a state portal, the portal will show the fee automatically. See the Rs.10 RTI fee explained for the Central rule, and BPL applicants pay zero for the exemption.

You can file on paper or online. On paper, write your application (use the template below), attach the fee, and hand it in at the hospital's reception or the PIO's office, or send it by registered post. Keep a photocopy and the postal receipt. Online, use the Central portal (rtionline.gov.in) for Central facilities, or your state's RTI portal for state hospitals — the online route gives you a registration number to track the reply.

The PIO must reply within 30 days (48 hours if your question involves a person's life or liberty — a stock-out of a life-saving drug can arguably fall here). If no reply arrives, or the reply is wrong, move to the next step.

To: The Public Information Officer
    Office of the Chief Medical Officer, [Hospital Name], [District, State]

Subject: Application under section 6 of the RTI Act, 2005 —
        Drug and medicine stock at [Hospital Name]

Sir/Madam,

Please furnish the following for [Hospital Name] for the
period [start date] to [end date]:

1. Current stock register for essential medicines — name,
   batch, quantity received, quantity in stock, expiry date.
2. Indent raised to central medical stores for the last
   three months and actual supply received, medicine-wise.
3. Aggregate daily issue records (units per medicine per
   day) for the last 30 days. Not seeking patient-wise records.
4. Medicines expired in the last 12 months and the mode and
   date of disposal for each.
5. DVDMS stock-out report for the last three months — which
   essential medicines were out of stock and for how long.

I am a citizen of India and request this in the public
interest. Fee of Rs. [amount] enclosed as per the
[Central / State] RTI Rules.

Date: [..]   Signature: [..]

Print two copies. Submit one. Get the other stamped as proof of receipt.

The escalation ladder has three rungs.

First appeal. If the PIO does not reply within 30 days, or gives a vague or illegal refusal, file a first appeal with the First Appellate Authority of the same public authority within 30 days of the expiry of the reply period. The appeal is free in most states. State that the information is disclosable aggregate data, that no patient-identifiable record is sought, and that section 8(1)(j) does not apply.

Second appeal. If the first appeal fails, file a second appeal with the State Information Commission (or the Central Information Commission for Central facilities) within 90 days. The Commission can order disclosure and impose a penalty on the PIO for delay or wrongful denial.

Complaint to the State Drugs Controller. In parallel, if the stock-out is real and ongoing, lodge a complaint with the State Drugs Controller, the licensing and enforcement authority under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. This is a regulatory step, not an RTI step — but it uses the RTI reply as your evidence.

1. Asking for patient-wise issue records. This invites a section 8(1)(j) refusal and wastes 30 days. Ask for aggregate totals only.
2. Filing only with the hospital. The CMO may be defensive about its own stock. Pair the application with one to the State Drugs Controller for an independent check.
3. Paying the wrong fee. Do not assume Rs.10 everywhere. A state hospital follows state RTI rules. Check first.
4. Vague questions. “Tell me about medicines” gets you a vague reply. Ask for named registers, named reports, named date ranges. Reference DVDMS by name so the PIO knows exactly which system to pull from.
5. Skipping the NHM alignment. Frame your questions around the Free Drugs Service Initiative and the Essential Drug List. This shows the PIO that the information is part of a recognised public programme, not a fishing trip.

1. A residents' welfare association or community collective filing the RTI carries more weight than a single person and is harder to ignore.
2. Ask for the facility-wise Essential Drug List itself — the NHM guidelines require it to be displayed prominently. If it is not displayed, that is a disclosure worth having.
3. Ask for the prescription audit reports. The PIP Guidance Note for FY 2026-27 mandates rational prescription audits, and these reports reveal whether medicines are being prescribed sensibly.
4. Time your RTI after a known stock-out so the 30-day reply window covers the period you care about.

Q: The hospital was out of an essential drug and my relative suffered. Can I get compensation through RTI? RTI gets you the proof — the stock register, the indent, the stock-out dates. It does not itself award compensation. The constitutional basis for a claim is Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity v State of West Bengal (1996) 4 SCC 37, where the Supreme Court held that a hospital's failure to provide timely treatment violates Article 21 and lack of funds is no excuse, and awarded compensation. To claim compensation you need a writ petition or a consumer complaint, using the RTI reply as evidence. There is no automatic, fixed compensation mechanism for a drug stock-out.

Q: Generic versus branded — can I ask which the hospital buys? Yes. The NHM Free Drugs Service Initiative requires free essential generic medicines. Ask for the procurement list showing generic versus branded purchases and the value of each. That tells you whether the hospital follows policy or quietly buys branded stock. Ask it as a separate, focused question so the reply cannot dodge it.

Q: The clerk says stock records are internal. Is that legal? No. Aggregate stock, indent, supply, expiry, and stock-out data are not personal information and do not fall under section 8(1)(j). If the PIO refuses on those grounds, file a first appeal.

You now have the questions, the recipients, the fee logic, and the escalation ladder. If this guide helped you hold a hospital pharmacy to account, two things keep this work going. Grab The RTI Playbook — our step-by-step companion for filing and winning RTI applications across India. And if you can, donate to support more such plain-language guides for citizens.

1. RTI to the PIO of a health or hospital public authority
2. RTI for hospital negligence and medical records
3. RTI to check vaccination stock
4. RTI for medical equipment tenders
5. CIC on inspection of medical records
6. The Rs.10 RTI fee explained
7. BPL applicants pay zero RTI fee

1. Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (Act 23 of 1940) — full text, indiacode.nic.in
2. CDSCO official list of State Drug Controllers / State Licensing Authorities, cdsco.gov.in
3. NHM Operational Guidelines — Free Drugs Service Initiative, 2 July 2015, nhm.gov.in
4. NHM PIP Guidance Note FY 2026-27, ncdc.mohfw.gov.in
5. NLEM 2022 — PIB launch release (384 medicines, 13 Sep 2022; S.O. 5249(E), 11 Nov 2022), pib.gov.in
6. Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity v State of West Bengal (1996) 4 SCC 37 / AIR 1996 SC 2426
7. Central RTI Rules 2012, Rule 3(1) and Rule 5 — fee and BPL exemption, NITI Aayog compiled RTI Rules
8. DVDMS — Drugs and Vaccines Distribution Management System, CDAC / MoHFW, nikshayaushadhi.in

Last reviewed: 3 July 2026.