Skip to main content

Gujarat Information Commission "sitting" on RTI review for three months: Plea on Banaskantha flood relief scam

Banaskantha floods, July 2015
By Pankti Jog*
On one hand, the Gujarat government is selling big dreams of “digital India” through the Digital Saksharat Abhiyaan (DISHA), but, on the other, a Dalit RTI activist from Banaskatha district is waiting for information related to flood relief beneficiaries for the last four months, and is being pressured to withdraw his application by anti-social elements involved in corruption.
Harkhabhai Parmar, filed his RTI on October 12, 2015, when India was celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Act, and the Prime Minister in his address to Chief Information Commission’s (CIC’s) conference appealed for disclosures.
Parmar’s application had sought information regarding the criterion for the selection of beneficiaries, the list of beneficiaries, and the benefits received. He had also sought information on action taken on a complaint filed earlier regarding misappropriation in relief distribution by him and his friend Ratansinh with the taluka development officer (TDO) office as well as the chief minister’s office (CMO).
Banaskantha district is one of the four in Gujarat which received heavy floods in July last year. The Government of India announced a package of Rs 300 crore, which was supposed to be distributed through the state machinery. Villages were surveyed for identifying beneficiaries for different types of relief, like damage to houses and crops, soil erosion, cattle fatalities and cash dole.
Harkhabhai observed that many people, who are eligible for the relief, were not included in the survey, and many received huge relief though their houses hardly suffered any damage. He and his farmer friend Ratansinh brought this to the notice of the village sarpanch, but the TDO who laughed at them. Hence, they decided to go the RTI way.
Within three days of filing the RTI, on October 15, 2015, Ratansinh was fatally attacked by four persons. He was badly injured and died before his son could take him to the hospital. Two was of the accused were arrested, but are out on bail.
The attack took place after a few persons, said to be close to the sarpanch, tried to offer huge bribe to Harkhabhai and Ratansinh. They refused, and vouched that until all the affected persons received justice in this matter, they would not even touch any cheque offered by by the TDO.
Following the incident, Harkhabhai filed a complaint with the Gujarat Informatiion Commission (GIC) and requested for out of turn hearing. Three months have passed, neither the GIC has called for the hearing, nor has it given ex-parte order for disclosure of the list of beneficiaries and the benefits given.
The Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) helpline tried to contact the taluka development officer (TDO) to inquire about the progress in the RTI application process. TDO said, “I was on leave, now I shall look into pending RTIs, there are many on my table.”
A complaint was also field with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and a notice was issued to the state government. The state government filed a report, which reportedly said “Ratansinh was not RTI an activist” and he was “not murdered”, but died of an accident. This is what the DSP said on telephone. A copy of the reply filed by the state government, however, is yet to be received.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), MAGP, Paryavaran Mitra, Gujarat Lok Samiti and many others, meanwhile, have written to the district collector, Banaskantha, requesting for dislcosure of the list of beneficiaries in the village. However, there is so far no response, even though this information falls under the proactive disclosure category, which needs to be disseminated among people/affected people and needs to be put in public domain.
“Why are they hiding this information? What is the reason, as per your opinion?”, I asked Harkhabhai. His reply was: “This information will prove fatal to corrupt people. Huge corruption has been done by the sarpanch, and a few people who are close to the taluka panchayat president.”
He added, “More than one beneficiary risiding in one house have received relief money in several cases. Hence they do not want to disclose the names of the beneificiaries. They want me withdraw my application.”
“I was offered two houses of Indira Awas and Sardar Awas few days back”, he said, adding, “They are also pressurizing me by sending various people to my house.”
Part of the constituency of Shankar Chaudhary, minister of state for urban housing, health and family welfare and transport, officials of the area are reluctant to disclose information. “Officials directly tell me that I would not get any information at any cost”, Harkhabhai says.
Meanwhile, civil society organizations have decided to go in for a massive RTI drive in Banakantha district, so that more and more people come foreward to raise their voice.
---
*Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel, Ahmedabad

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.