The
Asian Age: Friday, October 12, 2012.
The officials
in Mannachanallur union have sent 1,700 blank pages to an RTI activist who, as
directed by the officials, remitted Rs. 16,080 seeking documents related to
alleged irregularities of a panchayat president in auctioning karuvela trees
(black babul trees).
The
33-year-old RTI applicant, K. Srinivasan of Perakambi village, in
Mannachanallur union, has decided to file a writ in the high court.
“Perakambi
panchayat president Logeswari Anjanenjan, colluding with officials, had
entrusted the task of felling the karuvela trees, grown on 120 acres, to a
contractor for a paltry Rs. 39.24 lakh without proper advertisement in
newspapers, causing a huge loss to the exchequer,” said Srinivasan.
After he
brought it to the notice of collector Jayashree Muralidharan, she cancelled the
power of the president and vice-president R. Balakrishnan to sign cheques and
documents.
When
Srinivasan sought information and documents pertaining to the period from
January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009 through an RTI application, there was no
response. It was only on the collector’s directions that the situation changed.
Even after he
paid Rs. 16,080 for the 3,126-page documents, the officials kept dodging him.
“A few days later, the assistant director of panchayats, Rajendra Prasad, and
BDO Mallika summoned me and pressurised me to withdraw the petition. I refused
to,” said Srinivasan.
He was then
told to remit the money in the bank and on September 4, received a bundle
containing 2,728 pages but 1,700 were blank.
“When I
attempted to bring it to the notice of the collector during the public
grievance redressal programme on October 1, project officer Radhakrishnan and
Rajendra Prasad tried to snatch the papers” Srinivasan said.
“Without
hearing my version, the collector shouted at me and asked me to get the
documents through the court,” Srinivasan added.
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