Economic
Times: Belgaum: Saturday, 09 August 2014.
It was not
until Bhimappa Gundappa Gadad filed a series of RTI applications, and finally a
public interest litigation in the high court, did Karnataka admit Yellur was in
its territory in Belgaum district. The July 25 demolition of the Maharashtra
state signboard marked the end of a three-year-long effort by Gadad, but not
before sparking off a fresh bout of hostility between the neighbouring states.
Gadad, 53, is
a small-time agriculturist with two acres of farmland in Gokak taluk of Belgaum
district. The Right to Information Act (RTI Act) captured his imagination eight
years ago, and he turned an RTI activist, identifying public issues that catch
instant attention.
In March
2011, he decided to find out which state owned the village Yellur, about 10 km
from Belgaum City, as it greeted visitors with an old Marathi signboard
declaring that it was in Maharashtra. While none of Karnataka government's
different arms gave any replay to Gadad's RTI applications firmly owning up the
village, he was emboldened by one response which said the village was in the
Belgaum Lok Sabha constituency.
Armed with
that information, he filed a PIL in the Karnataka High Court, where officials
admitted that the village was in Karnataka, and promised to have the
Maharashtra signboard removed.
"The
irony is for many years, police guarded the signboard to prevent it from being
removed by pro-Kannada groups. Now the same policemen are standing guard to
ensure no one builds it again," said Gadad, a former Congressman who has
studied just up to Class 10.
The
low-profile activist who ignites high-voltage debates, in the process
embarrassing the government, is not exactly a darling of politicians. Six years
ago, he filed an RTI application seeking details of the arrears politicians
owned to the state by way of their over-stay in government bungalows after
completion of their term as ministers. The reply revealed that politicians owed
Rs 1.9 crore, and Gadad gave wide publicity to it.
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