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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Villagers use RTI to take on candidates by Tarannum Manjul

Villagers use RTI to take on candidates by Tarannum Manjul

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published Published on Oct 22, 2010   modified Modified on Oct 22, 2010

Documents availed through Right to Information (RTI) Act are giving sleepless nights to former pradhans contesting the panchayat elections again.

Armed with these papers — mostly related to utilisation of panchayat funds — the villagers are questioning candidates who come seeking votes. The authenticity of the information being guaranteed, the candidates have no chance to argue.

In village Hamirpura in Jalaun, a candidate contesting for the the gram pradhan’s seat for the second time, faced a volley of questions at a public meeting. “I was shocked when villagers asked me why a particular road was constructed twice and why six handpumps in the village featured both in the list of re-bored and newly installed, within three months,” he said. “When I asked them how can they allege these anomalies, I was shown copy of documents which they had procured through RTI and I couldn’t say anything. I have stopped holding any public meetings and now prefer going door to door.”

Rajesh Kumar, a block-level RTI activist from the village who had helped villagers get the details, said RTI is helping them understand candidates better. “Since the former pradhan was contesting again, we decided to get all details. Now we have documents which give us complete information on the money given under different heads to the village and how it was used,” he said.

Jalaun is not the only district where RTI is being used widely. In village Dhaurisagar of Lalitpur district, the villagers got information not just from village level, but even from the state Information Commission, on how funds were misused. Devendra Kumar, the local RTI activist, said they are not just asking the candidates questions, but also informing villagers about these anomalies.

“We got the photocopies of muster rolls and Measurement Books of the tasks of the MGNREGS,” he said. “This is one of the schemes where maximum corruption has been seen and we want it to be open in front of the people.” Having managed to get information about all roads constructed in his village, he said he and his friends are trying to ensure that the best candidate is chosen.

In Sitapur, villagers used RTI to find out the number of cases in which the pradhan was involved. “Our village saw scams in schemes like old age pension, MGNREGS job cards, payments and even scholarship,” said Pushkar Prajapati, a local RTI activist. “Through RTI, we got documents relating to these anomalies and in some of them, he had been found guilty. He is contesting again but we are running a campaign against him because he is a corrupt man and we do not want him to be elected.” Similar uses of the RTI have been reported from districts like Kanpur dehat, Bahraich, Siddharth Nagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Balrampur. Bijnore, Moradabad and Meerut. And incidentally, none of these are politically backed.

The state’s RTI activists feel this is one of the best uses of the law at the grassroot level.

Sanjay Singh, a social activist who has trained a team of RTI activists in 110 villages in Jalaun, said RTI has certainly managed to generate fear among the candidates. “It is not only former pradhans who feel threatened. The other candidates too are under pressure, as they feel that if they get chosen, they will have to watch their steps,” said Singh. Nutan Thakur of the National RTI Forum said this is creating awareness and transparency at the lowest level. “The people are more aware now. It will help them choose the right candidate and inform them about the schemes being implemented in their villages,” said Thakur.


The Indian Express, 22 October, 2010, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Villagers-use-RTI-to-take-on-candidates/701024/


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