| |
STATES: RAJASTHAN
The Right To Know
A sustained right to information campaign by villagers
exposes corruption at the panchayat level
By Rohit Parihar
| |
|
| |
UNDESERVED BONUS: Shiv Lal and Sukhi had a house but were still
given funds from Indira Awas Yojnas
|
| |
 |
| |
BUILDING CORRUPTION:
According to the records, the Janawad panchayat office was built three
times |
Enough of theft
and embezzlement. Let us speak out." As the puppet before them breaks
into a song, the villagers at the street corner at Janawad in Rajasthan's
Rajsamand district join the chorus. Puppeteer and firebrand activist of
the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) Shankar Singh has their attention
as he tells them how their sarpanch and other officials gobbled up the
money meant for their development. As the show ends, Singh holds up two
volumes of a 400-page report. "Do you know what this is?" he
asks. "Yes," comes the collective reply. "A guide to corruption."
Indeed, the report brought out by state Deputy
Secretary (Finance-Audit) Banna Lal on grassroots corruption in Janawad
is virtually a list of the ways in which money can be misappropriated.
Submitted after a probe ordered by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in April
this year, it points out that 55 per cent of the funds meant for development
works-Rs 68 lakh out of Rs 1.23 crore-had been misused over the past six
years.
|
INTERVIEW: ASHOK GEHLOT
"Ask how much has been spent"
|
|
|
 Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot tells Principal Correspondent Rohit Parihar
that he is all for the people's right to information. Excerpts:
Q. After Janawad, are you convinced of
the need for right to information?
A. Yes. I want to create awareness at every level about it.
Q. Do you agree that corruption is widespread
in rural areas?
A. Yes,
if it's the case in Janawad, it could well be the same at other
places too.
Q. So why don't you take stern action
against it?
A. I
want to. That's why I have asked people to come out with instances
of corruption in their neighbourhood. This can only be done if they
seek details of every work undertaken. They must ask how much has
been spent.
Q. What can the Government do to motivate
people to seek details?
A. Can
we do it? NGOs should spread the word.
Q. But that's shifting responsibility.
A. No.
The Government has its limitations. Despite my best efforts and
publicity, just 400 persons living below the poverty line have sought
free medical assistance from the state.
Q. So NGOs will be playing a major role
in future?
A. We
are entering an NGO regime. This is a must. But there should be
only selfless people in these organisations.
|
|
While such revelations have become common in
a corrupt society like India, what has made a difference this time is
the manner in which the report came about. The product of a relentless
public campaign, it is the first document to have been procured by the
people through the Right to Information Act, enacted by the state Government
in May. And perhaps for the first time, the state has admitted to the
stink in its administration and taken corrective action. Seven officials
were suspended, with Gehlot asking the Anti-Corruption Bureau to initiate
criminal proceedings against the accused and recover Rs 67 lakh from them.
"Let citizens use their right to information to expose corruption,"
he said promising a similar exercise in other panchayats.
The first string of allegations against the
officials of Janawad panchayat came to light early last year after the
MKSS launched its right-to-information initiative. Under its guidance,
villagers demanded that the Government display on boards the details of
works undertaken and the expenditure incurred on them. When this was done,
they realised that most of the works were either completed years ago or
did not exist at all. Soon Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy joined the
campaign and within a year, they procured the documents needed for an
investigation.
|
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives
