Indian Express ; Shiv Sahay Singh : Sun Sep 12 2010 : Kolkata :
Hiralal Barman,a government auditor, has used the Act to unearth several financial irregularities
Hiralal Barman is among the few whistleblowers in West Bengal who is using the Right to Information Act to ensure health of democracy in the state. After five years of implementation of the act in West Bengal when the enthusiasm about the act has died down about the act with little zeal on public authorities to implement the act is on a low, Hiralal effortlessly wears the twin hats of a government auditor and an RTI activist. 45 year old Hiralal Barman is the assistant accounts officer of the Principal Accountant general of West Bengal but that has not held him back in carrying the message of RTI’s in the country forward.
Hiralal filed his first RTI application in September 2007 when he found irregularities in the construction of a building at Katwa college. Being an audit officer most of his RTI are focussed financial irregularties and he has succesfully the used act to unearth financial frauds.
Hiralal first realised how powerful a tool exercising the RTI can become only after he realised that how police can be made to act using the proviosions of RTI act. Besides his home on the Sodepur Barasat road there was always a pile of sand and bricks left afterr they were dumped by constrations. He complained about this to the local police administration but as expected nothing happened. He then filed a complaint in a local police station. After filing the complain he filed a number of RTI to know what action he has taken. After filling the second appeal to an official of the rank of special IG, he received a letter from the Superintended of Police that his compliant would be adressed. After a few days he was surprised to see that the rabble has been removed from there.
Hiralal still considers that to be a big achievement and says that even two years after the incident still there is not even a hint of any construction material there although still the material is unloaded at the spot.
Hiralal has been instrumental in getting the first person arrested in the state using RTI. An NREGS work at Sitahati village in Ketugram II block of Burdwan district was wrought with irregularities. Hiralal used RTI to get the with the inspection report of the project and then used RTI to ask force the authorities to file a FIR gainst the accused. Even after the FIR was lodged he used RTI to see that the person was arrested. Thus in 2009 the Job Assistant of Sitahati Gram Panchayat was the first person to be arrested using RTI and he was in zail for 42 days.
“Right to Information is the most important tool for democracy. By using his or her right to information a citizen can get a taste of democracracy which has so far not been possible for the citizen,” says Hiralal.
Hiralal has so far filed hundreds of RTI’s and meticulously follows them. He is always on internet and his home has been converted into an office.
Along with actively pursuing the Right to Information, Hiralal has a number of brilliant ideas about how to make the Mahata Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme (MNREGS) more effection. Hiralal has prepared a concept paper on how the job guranatee scheme can be linked to agriculture and the government can ensure work for labouerers and then use foodgrains to run various welfare schemess in the state. “ After some time there will be no work left for NREGA. Moreover there is also no creation of resources through NREGA . If we can link the farmer through this we can ensure permamant suplly of labour and fill our granaries will food grains,” he says as he goes on explaining his intiative to various officials and politicians.
For Hiralal, the activism started with Right to Information, which he feels is greatest tool our biggest democracy has and his quest goes on to make it more stronger and its fruit reach the last individual.
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