He risked his life to expose village sarpanch

Paul John   TNN  (PAGE : 5 )

Kheda: Satish Rana was almost done to death and thrown on a highway. His crime was that he dared to question Alina village sarpanch Geeta Bhojani in an RTI application the reason why 167 Prosopis Juliflora (Gando Baval) were felled in his village without permission. Bleeding profusely with several deep injuries all over his body, Rana walked into Mahudha police station in Kheda district to lodge his complaint. The policemen refused to do so allegedly because of political pressure. This was in January 2007.

Bleeding and bruised, Rana tried to walk back home when he met a a Good Samaritan. The driver of a state transport bus offered Rana lift to Nadiad civil hospital where he could get treated for his injury. Rana narrated his tale to the driver, who assured Rana that the Nadiad civil hospital police would have to lodge the complaint according to the procedure.

Once on his feet, Rana repeatedly filed RTIs to know the status of his complaint with Nadiad police. The police now had to compulsorily act on the complaint. The village talati was arrested for being part of the conspiracy and put in jail for 26 days.

“I had just collected my RTI reply on the tree felling issue from the Mahudha mamlatdar office in August 2007 when some men abducted and assaulted me. I continued my fight for nearly two years with the help of RTI to ensure that justice is done and no villager fears the bullies,” says Rana

Rana’s RTI on the tree felling to taluka development officer (TDO) initiated an enquiry which led to revelation of several irregularities. The TDO even submitted a report to district development officer (DDO) Manisha Chandra for superceding the sarpanch.

“The talati was to be suspended after 48 hours but he apparently wielded lot of influence. I filed an RTI in this regard too and I am sure action will be taken. As a concerned citizen, I wanted that the government is informed about several irregularities in my village and hence I am following up on the sarpanch enquiry with RTI,” says Rana.

“We have prepared a report on several financial irregularities in Alina village. Despite my raising objections, the sarpanch and her supporters have turned a blind eye and even sanctioned higher salaries, causing losses to the village accounts. The village hygiene and status of government’s plans and projects undertaken was questionable. I have submitted the report to the DDO already a month ago,” says Mahudha TDO YN Bhatt.