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| Misuse of RTI: Some use it as weapon to extract works from govt officers | | | BHARAT BHUSHAN
JAMMU, July 3: Using RTI as a weapon against "corrupt" officials, a "select" group of RTI activists is alleged to have extracted works worth crores from different government departments here.
"They first take rounds of different departments and make an inventory of works which they feel have been alloted to contractors without following the set government procedure. Then, under RTI, they apply for details of these works," official sources said.
"When the officials show unwillingness to part with the information, this set of RTI activists tells them that they will withdraw their applications in case they too are alloted works," the sources alleged.
"The RTI weapon has been working well for them," the sources said, claiming that their assets had swollen like anything in the past two years, or so.
Under RTI, every citizen has the right to know about the government functioning, and also about the construction works executed by various departments.
"While there are several genuine RTI activists who have been making good use of this act in the state, there are others who are allegedly using it for their own benefit," the sources added.
A simple effort by any anti-corruption wing of the government was enough to lay hands on their "fishy" deals, sources said.
The officials, who gave them works, also allegedly used them against some of their "rivals" in their department and other departments, the sources added.
Sources said even if these RTI activists were alloted works following the set norms, the officials ought to be questioned why they had favoured them while making allotments.
The other vital aspect of this issue was that whether the tenders, against which they got contracts, were published in the leading local dailies, or not, the sources added.
So far, nearly 1,000 applications were said to have been received by various government departments from the people, seeking information under RTI, sources said.
However, whenever people demanded information under RTI, they were discouraged by the authorities concerned, the sources added.
Sources said on several occasions, public information officers (PIOs) had rejected applications on trivial grounds.
There were also instances when genuine applicants were threatened of dire consequences in case they did not withdraw their applications, the sources added.
Mulkh Raj of Ramnagar was forced to flee home and take shelter in a friend's house in Jammu after he had filed an application under RTI, seeking details of irregularities committed in government higher secondary school, Ramnagar.
After the filing of the application by him, some armed youth had barged into his house at Ramnagar and given him life threat if he did not withdraw the application.
Another RTI applicant Ghulam Nabi Shah of Budgam was beaten up for seeking details from block development office, Khansahib, about the money distributed under Indira Awas Yojna and NAREGA.
The corrupt officers were taking the assistance of goons to threaten RTI applicants so that they desisted from filing applications.
In J&K, any person can file RTI application with a treasury receipt of Rs 50, while in other states, a treasury receipt of only Rs 10 was to be attached with the application.
Sources said most of the applicants were getting wrong replies. There was a need to further strengthen RTI in J&K, the sources asserted. |
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