Hindustan
Times: Jaipur: Wednesday, January 16, 2019.
For
Vikas Choudhary and Manohar Lal, the response to their RTI query came as a rude
shock.
The
residents of Chani Badi in Bhadra tehsil of Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district
got used condoms wrapped in old newspaper allegedly posted by the gram
panchayat on the directions of State Information Commission.
Choudhary
and Lal had filed two separate applications under the right to information act
(RTI) with the gram panchayat on April 16 seeking details of the development
projects undertaken since 2001.
“After
opening the first envelope with used condoms folded in an old newspaper, we
were quite apprehensive about the stuff in the second one so we called the
block development officer (BDO) and requested his presence while opening the
other,” Choudhary, who is preparing for state civil services examination in
Delhi, said while speaking to the Hindustan Times over the phone.
“When
the BDO refused our request, we decided to open it in the presence of some
prominent persons of our village and filmed the whole episode. The material in
the second envelope was the same as the first one,” he said.
Lal
was also stunned when he received the same “answer” when he opened the envelope
to check the reply.
“Is
this how the panchayat runs its business? I cannot believe the civic body can
reply in such a foul manner. I have been in constant mental agony and
depression since I received the RTI reply,” Lal said.
When
contacted, chief executive officer (CEO) of Hanumangarh Jila Parishad Navneet
Kumar said it was a “mischievous act” after the condoms were posted in the
reply.
“The
regrettable and illegal act has been done by some unknown person who appears to
have access in the official system,” Kumar said.
The
CEO assured that all necessary steps will be taken to avert recurrence of such
incidents and an investigation will be launched to bring the culprit to book.
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