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May 23, 2008 By Manoj Chaurasia/The Statesman PATNA, May 21: Not very long ago, the chief minister Mr Nitish Kumar, launching a call centre for facilitating Right to Information in Bihar, had termed it a historic step which, he said, will "tame corruption, check nepotism and above all help the government tone up the state administration". However, things have gone in just the opposite direction. The RTI has been reduced to a mockery in Bihar with people being harassed, tortured or jailed for seeking information, by the very officials who are supposed to be implementing the Act. There are over two dozen cases where the applicants were tortured or jailed for daring to seek information from these babus. The lid over this can of worms was removed by a youth from Buxur, Shiv Prakash Rai at a press conference here yesterday, at which he revealed how he was implicated in a false case of seeking extortion from the district magistrate of Buxur and then threw into jail. Rai who spent 29 days in jail before the charges leveled against him were trashed by the SP had sought from the DM details of beneficiaries under PMRY of all the 69 banks under the Buxur district. Similarly, one Chandradeep Singh of Maner under Patna district had to spend 23 days in jail for seeking information from district authorities about the step being taken to provide him safety in the aftermath of criminals killing his son and daughter. He was charged with attempting to rape a woman. Likewise, Purushottam Prasad of Nalanda, home district of the Bihar chief minister, was implicated in a fabricated case of stealing kerosene oil drums when he sought information about land reforms under RTI. According to Bihar Right to Information Manch coordinator Mrs Praveen Amanullah, there are at least 14 cases to her knowledge wherein applicants were mentally tortured by officials for seeking information under the RTI. "It's sheer mockery of RTI in Bihar. Instead of cooperating with the people, the officials have been implicating them in false cases for using RTI as a tool to expose corruption in the government offices", said Mrs Amanullah. Mrs Amanullah, wife of Bihar home secretary Mr Afzal Amanullah, who has launched crusade against the corruption and red-tapism in the state administration has herself been a victim. Recently, when she sought details about the services being provided by the Patna Medical College and Hospital under the RTI, the authorities concerned handed her a bill of Rs 5 lakh. The money was charged for photocopying of the relevant documents. The editor of a popular news portal, bihartimes.com, Mr Ajay Kumar who too had to go through similar harassment said: "Bureaucracy in Bihar is hell-bent on blocking all information. They does not have people-friendly approach." He said almost all the officials now enjoying key posts in the Bihar State Information Commission were, in fact, former civil servants and hence "all the time they appear to be trying their best to save skin of their colleagues". Asked for comments, State Information Commissioner Mr PN Narayanan said he had ordered a probe into the jailing of the Buxur youth, allegedly in a false case and other such cases. He however denied that officials were harassing applicants or blocking information. "We act promptly when a case reaches my court", he told The Statesman. http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=204976'
By Manoj Chaurasia/The Statesman
PATNA, May 21: Not very long ago, the chief minister Mr Nitish Kumar,
launching a call centre for facilitating Right to Information in
Bihar, had termed it a historic step which, he said, will "tame
corruption, check nepotism and above all help the government tone up
the state administration".
However, things have gone in just the opposite direction. The RTI has
been reduced to a mockery in Bihar with people being harassed,
tortured or jailed for seeking information, by the very officials who
are supposed to be implementing the Act.
There are over two dozen cases where the applicants were tortured or
jailed for daring to seek information from these babus. The lid over
this can of worms was removed by a youth from Buxur, Shiv Prakash Rai
at a press conference here yesterday, at which he revealed how he was
implicated in a false case of seeking extortion from the district
magistrate of Buxur and then threw into jail.
Rai who spent 29 days in jail before the charges leveled against him
were trashed by the SP had sought from the DM details of beneficiaries
under PMRY of all the 69 banks under the Buxur district.
Similarly, one Chandradeep Singh of Maner under Patna district had to
spend 23 days in jail for seeking information from district
authorities about the step being taken to provide him safety in the
aftermath of criminals killing his son and daughter. He was charged
with attempting to rape a woman.
Likewise, Purushottam Prasad of Nalanda, home district of the Bihar
chief minister, was implicated in a fabricated case of stealing
kerosene oil drums when he sought information about land reforms under
RTI.
According to Bihar Right to Information Manch coordinator Mrs Praveen
Amanullah, there are at least 14 cases to her knowledge wherein
applicants were mentally tortured by officials for seeking information
under the RTI.
"It's sheer mockery of RTI in Bihar. Instead of cooperating with the
people, the officials have been implicating them in false cases for
using RTI as a tool to expose corruption in the government offices",
said Mrs Amanullah.
Mrs Amanullah, wife of Bihar home secretary Mr Afzal Amanullah, who
has launched crusade against the corruption and red-tapism in the
state administration has herself been a victim. Recently, when she
sought details about the services being provided by the Patna Medical
College and Hospital under the RTI, the authorities concerned handed
her a bill of Rs 5 lakh. The money was charged for photocopying of the relevant documents.
The editor of a popular news portal, bihartimes.com, Mr Ajay Kumar who
too had to go through similar harassment said: "Bureaucracy in Bihar
is hell-bent on blocking all information. They does not have
people-friendly approach."
He said almost all the officials now enjoying key posts in the Bihar
State Information Commission were, in fact, former civil servants and
hence "all the time they appear to be trying their best to save skin
of their colleagues".
Asked for comments, State Information Commissioner Mr PN Narayanan
said he had ordered a probe into the jailing of the Buxur youth,
allegedly in a false case and other such cases. He however denied that
officials were harassing applicants or blocking information. "We act
promptly when a case reaches my court", he told The Statesman.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=204976'