RTI activists in TN face threats from sand mafia, contractors
CHENNAI: The Right To Information (RTI) Act may have come as a weapon in the hands of the common man seeking transperancy in governance, but those using the enactment are also increasingly becoming vulnerable as demonstrated by the killing of an RTI activist in Gujarat on Tuesday.In Tamil Nadu, activists who focus on environmental degradation due to sand mining and the nexus between corrupt government staff, contractors of civil work and local politicians routinely face intimidation. They are often targeted after officials learn about the RTI applications filed seeking details of expenditure on various schemes.
P Balasubramanian, a retired village administrative officer and a social worker in Cuddalore, recently received threats from a builder after he filed an application under the RTI Act a couple of months ago pertaining to certain unauthorised constructions in the district.
"I lodged a police complaint as I was threatened, but the police chose to close the case. But I am not going to leave it that. Now I am going to file an RTI application with the police department to furnish me the copy of the inquiry report,'' Balasubramanian said.
In a similar case in Tiruvannamalai district, R Balakrishnan, a 63-year old retired school headmaster, recently lodged a police complaint against a local politician who along his supporters tresspassed on his (Balakrishnan's) property and threatened him of dire consequences if he continued to file RTI applications.
Acting on his complaint, the police summoned and warned the political functionary and also obtained a written undertaking that he would not commit the offence again. Balakrishnan had filed RTI applications with the civic bodies and government agencies in connection with irregularities in laying of roads and water pipelines and planting of saplings.
"We want to use the RTI Act to eliminate corrupt practices in the government and it obviously puts obstacles in the path of those who indulge in corruption. But I am not scared,'' said the retired headmaster.
M Thuyamurthy, an anti-corruption campaigner at Tondiarpet in Chennai, was similarly threatened by a gang that barged into a fisheries office when he was inspecting the records of the fisheries cooperative societies under the RTI Act pertaining to certain irregularities.
The State Information Commission recently ordered inquiry into the complaint made by V Gopalakrishnan, an RTI activist in KK Nagar in Chennai, against two unidentified persons who wanted him to withdraw an application he had filed seeking to know details of assets of a tahsildar in the revenue department.
"It is the need of the hour that the government ensure the safety of RTI activists. There must be a separate department to deal with RTI issues and inquiries on complaints made by applicants should be conducted by an independent body and not by the department to which the RTI application is filed,'' Gopalakrishnan said.
jeeva.pugazvendan@timesgroup.com
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