Thanks to babus, many land in jail for daring to use RTI Reported in Bihar Times
Patna, (Bihar Times): The idea of Right to Information (RTI) may be too novel, romantic and even effective. But in Bihar bureaucrats have learnt the art to overcome it. They are implicating those who dare to seek information , in false and sometimes serious cases (such as rape) and putting them behind bars. There are innumerable cases of harassment at the hands of officials. For example, Shiv Prakash Rai, who is in mid-50s, was charged by a former district magistrate of Buxar, with demanding randhari tax (extortion money) from him. But can any person simply barged into the chamber of district magistrate to charge the amount? However, thanks to Paresh Saxena, the then Superintendent of Police of that district, he was released from the jail after 29 days. Rai's crime was that he, under the Right To Information , dared to ask the details of beneficiaries under Indira Awas Yojana. Purushottam Prasad of Nalanda district, who demanded details of land reforms, was implicated in the false case of stealing kerosene drums. Retired army personnel, Chandradeep Singh, was even more unlucky. He was charged with attempting to rape a woman in Maner. His crime was that he sought from the police the details of the murder of his son and daughter. Another person, Jaiprakash, who sought details of the construction of Chirayatand overbridge was charged with obstructing government servants in discharging duty and disrupting construction works. According to Parveen Amanullah, the co-ordinator of Bihar Right To Information Manch, the government officials had lodged false cases against those who dared to expose corruption. She further said that officers should be sensitized as they are unable to accept the fact that people are now in a position to demand information from them. She regretted that no action had been taken against the officials who levelled false charges against RTI activists. The irony is that Parveen herself is the wife of top bureaucrat of the state––home secretary Afzal Amanullah––yet she echoes the helpelessness of the RTI activists. Link to the above: http://bihartimes.com/newsbihar/2008/May/newsbihar21May6.html ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rti_india/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rti_india/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
