Kerala CM hesitant to act on Munnar encroachments, RTI reveals

Onmanorama: Kochi: Tuesday, June 19, 2018.

A response to an RTI plea submitted to the Kerala revenue department suggested that the chief minister’s office is likely sitting on a report on Munnar encroachments submitted by then Devikulam subcollector Sriram Venkitaraman. The sensitive file has even disappeared without trace from the sub-collector's office, the RTI response revealed.

The chief minister's office has not taken any decision on the report that was received last year. Since the file disappeared from the sub-collector's office, any action against the controversial encroachments in Munnar has become impossible.

In reply to an RTI plea that sought a copy of the file, the applicant was told that the report prepared by the subcollector about encroachments in Munnar and a related.

In an application submitted at the revenue department seeking the copy of the same file, the applicant was told that the file is in the chief minister's office and only when a final decision is taken on it and the file is returned a copy can be provided.

According to norms, the office that prepares any report for the government has to keep at least a copy of it. If the government has requested the entire file considering the significance of the issue, the applicant should be informed regarding this. Since no such information has been given, it is assumed that the file has been destroyed.

The report submitted in two phases by Venkitaraman includes a detailed list of big encroachers and the action taken to evict them. With the CPM seeking the report to be rejected and its ally CPI demanding action on it, it had become one of the hotly debated issues in Kerala and resulted in the transfer of Venkitaraman.

The RTI application had sought the date of submission of the sub-collector's report at the revenue department, its file number, the date of submission of a report prepared by Idukki district police chief A V George on the encroachments in Idukki and its file number. The application was filed on October 13, 2017, and the reply came after 30 days, saying that the file was with the chief minister's office.

The reply also stated that the report by George was not received by the revenue department. Following this, an application was submitted at the Devikulam sub-collector's office on May 10, 2018.

It sought attested copies of the report on encroachments, settlements and unauthorized construction prepared by Venkitaraman, the note file of the report, and all communication on the issue till the date of filing the RTI plea. The reply said that the office could not locate the file and report.