Himachal govt must put in public all info sought by murdered RTI activist Jindan exposing corruption: NCPRI

By A Representative
In a strongly worded letter to Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on the murder of RTI activist Kedar Singh Jindan in Sirmaur district on September 7, the National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI) has said that it "gravely concerned" by the incident.
Jindan, it said, was first brutally assaulted and then crushed under a SUV in broad day light near his house. The reason for the murder was, he had "flied numerous applications under the RTI Act to exposed "fraud and irregularities" of the officialdom in the identification of families living below the poverty line (BPL).
Pointing out that he had presented his findings in a conference in Shimla on June 29, 2018, the letter states, he had also put forth proof that he had obtained from six families related to members of the panchayat that had used fake BPL certificates to secure government Jobs. Further, he had registered a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Noting that Jindan had previously been attacked multiple times and had sought police protection which was denied to him.

Seeking "thorough investigation" into the murder of Jindan, the letter says, "The state government must ensure that all the information sought by Jindan is put in the public domain and widely publicized, which would act as a deterrent." The signatories include RTI activists Anjali Bhardwaj, Venkatesh Nayak, Nikhil Dey, Pankti Jog, Rakesh Dubbudu, among others.

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