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Rajkot:
Four villagers who tenaciously used RTI are presently on a
satyagraha in front of the Rajkot district collectorate demanding
action against corrupt officials in the Indira Awaas Yojana but no
one, including Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, is listening.
While Narendra Modi’s Gujarat is portrayed as a sterling example
of good governance, brazen corruption in the premier housing
scheme, Indira Awaas Yojana meant for those below poverty
line (BPL) has not led to action against corrupt officials who
have been diverting housing
funds
meant for the poorest of the poor to the ‘rich’ and ‘influential’
of the village, as exposed through RTI (Right to Information).
The
Indira Awaas Yojana scheme is run by the Union rural
development ministry to construct
houses for
people below poverty line. The financial assistance comprises
Rs75,000 allotted to a woman or in the joint name of husband and
wife. It is also extended to widows and war widows. It was the
plight of a poor widow of Dhank village in Rajkot district that
led to the corruption trail through
incriminating
evidence found through a series of RTI applications filed
in the last two years, but the corrupt continue to be protected.
To protest
against inaction by the state government, four villagers of Dhank
in Rajkot district where the scam was exposed, Bharatbhai Ghughal,
Bhanjibhai Jogel Naranbhai Varagiya and Govind Gangera are on
satyagraha for the past one week in front of the Rajkot
Collector’s office, to demand proper action against officers
responsible for corruption in Indira Awaas Yojana
(IAY). These officers, which include block development officers,
assistant engineers and sarpanchs diverted
funds to the rich and influential of the village for
renovation of
their houses. In some cases, the very same ‘rich’ and
‘influential’ people were also beneficiaries of another similar
state government-run scheme, Sardar Patel Awaas
Yojana (SPAY). As per rules, only villagers below poverty
line can avail of one of the two schemes.
The endless
power of citizen empowerment through RTI is reflected in this
particular case, two villagers of Dhank who studied up to Std VII—Bharatbhai
Ghughal and Bhanjibhai Jogel—tirelessly pursued the RTI route for
two long years and blew the lid off a mega housing scam that is
allegedly prevalent in most villages of Gujarat. Their frustration
at corrupt officials not being punished despite incriminating
evidence they exposed forcing the State Information
Commission to direct vigilance commission to take action, has
forced them to sit on satyagraha in front of the Rajkot
Collector’s office.
In a press
statement issued by the Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) which
has guided these two villagers to crusade through RTI, Ghughal and
Jogel have stated that, “We are agriculture labourers. Through RTI
we came to know about the scam. We have approached the vigilance
commission, as well as panchayat, rural
housing
department but no action is being taken against the
officers who were responsible for this corruption. We were
threatened by village sarpanch and panchayat
officials but we are fighting for the cause to change the system.
It’s almost a year but government has not taken any action against
the responsible officers.” The press release has appealed to
citizens and activists, nationwide to contact Bhanjibhai Jogel,
Bharatbhai Ghughal on 09974573036 for moral support and
send
emails requesting action on the corrupt to RM Patel,
Additional Chief Secretary, Panchayat and Rural Housing Dept (GOG)
secprh@gujarat.gov.in,
commi-prh@gujarat.gov.in;
D Rajgopalan, Chief Information Commissioner – Gujarat
gscic@gujarat.gov.in ; Rajendar Kumar, District Collector
Rajkot
collector-raj@gujarat.gov.in and/or N B Upadhyay,
District Development Officer,ddo-raj@gujarat.gov.in.
Jogel and
Ghughal filed RTI applications at the Gram Panchayat office in
2010 requesting names of
the
beneficiaries in Dhank village for the IAY and SPAY schemes
for the last five years. When the sarpanch
came to know of this, he along with his men beat the duo. In fact,
he threatened to kill them by burning their houses in the night—a
statement which he made in front of the District Development
Officer (DDO) who was unmoved by it. Refusing to cow down, they
took the help of Pankti Jog, a RTI activist working for MAGP which
also has a whistleblowers’ helpline, based in Ahmedabad. She filed
a policecomplaint
and also ensured police protection to them.
When the PIO
did not reply, they filed the first appeal with the first
appellate authority, that is, the District Development Office of
Rajkot district. During
the hearing,
the PIO submitted a hand-written chit with six names of
beneficiaries who received
allotment
out of the rules. Jogel and Ghughal refused this shabby
information and demanded a certified copy of the list of
beneficiaries and whether they belonged to the BPL section of the
society. Says Pankti Jog, “finally multiple RTI applications were
filed to procure the same information and finally they received
the list. The information stated that there were 65 beneficiaries
in the last five years out of which 22 of them belonged to the
affluent class and had received multiple benefits, meaning they
received
money
two to three times under the two housing schemes and had renovated
their houses with it.”
Jogel and
Ghughal then analysed the sheet, re-worked it in an excel sheet
format and with red marks defining irregularities. They then sent
it to the Vigilance Commission for suitable action against the
illegal beneficiaries. Says Pankti Jog, “The Vigilance Commission
was initially slow in its action but in March 2011 directed the
principal secretary of the panchayat department to conduct and
inquiry and submit its report to the commission. The panchayat
department sought details from the District Rural Development
Authority (DRDA) by conducting investigation on ground. The two
RTI applicants helped the authorities in identifying homes and the
DRDA conducted apanchnama and collected testimonials
which proved that 22 affluent households had indeed siphoned the
money meant for the poorest of the poor.
Manu Moudgil,
who has done a case
study
on this issue states that the villagers bravely used the RTI after
the conventional methods of procuring failed. He writes, “it was
in 2010 that Gughal and Jogal observed that well-to-do people
owning large properties were getting the houses meant for below
poverty line persons. They, joined by four others, decided to
raise the issue first through official representations. Their
first step was to file a joint complaint to the
Taluka (Tehsil) Development Officer (TDO)
on 30 March 2010, seeking an inquiry into the matter. Getting no
response from the administration, they armed themselves with
knowledge about the RTI Act, which they had heard was bringing
about transparency in governance.”
Despite
incriminating evidence found against the seven
officers including the sarpanch of the village Dhank
which has a population 7,000 odd, neither the Panchayat Department
nor the Vigilance Commission is taking action against them. States
Pankti Jog, “corruption in these housing schemes’ disbursal of
money runs in crores of rupees across Gujarat but the
Narendra Modi government seems hesitant to take action.” The
reason why these poor villagers have had to resort to
satyagraha.
(Vinita
Deshmukh is the consulting editor of Moneylife,
an RTI activist and convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan.
She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman
Award for Rural Reporting which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and
the Chameli Devi Jain award for outstanding media person for her
investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book
“To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok
Kamte” with Vinita Kamte. She can be reached atvinitapune@gmail.com.)
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