Nalkheda: If you want seek information under right to information (RTI) from Nalkheda municipal council then you must think twice as it seems that the authorities here want to shield the information behind iron curtains.
As per an applicant the authorities here refused to answer her RTI request by giving lame excuses like the data sought is extensive and voluminous or records are not updated.
The aggrieved local Monali, daughter of Ashok Kumar Saklecha, filed an RTI on July 9 this year after her ancestral house was demolished by the municipal council about seven months back.
Her RTI application comprised 12 questions varying from why local authorities demolished house in ward no 9, validity of map verification done by the municipal council to the panchnama and other tenders and quotation related documents.
After waiting for two months, municipal council responded to her on September 9. According to Monali most of the questions raised by have not been answered. She alleges that municipal council dodged or refused to provide a response under the pretext that the information sought by her is related to an individual or confidential information and it cannot be provided. Regarding information related to the tender or quotations invited by municipal council between January 1, 2013, and June 30, 2020, the council claimed that the tender book is not updated, or the information sought by the applicant is extensive and voluminous.
Levelling serious allegations of providing false information about the land record which she has sought, Monali alleged that authority is not ready to provide correct information just to cover-up the land scam which is underway in the village at large.
Monali alleged that more than two months back, she visited the chief municipal officer’s office seeking some records. However, after running from pillar to post for weeks, she failed to get the required information.
Fed-up of this, she decided to seek information through the RTI. On July 9, she filed an RTI seeking information related to the financial details as well as land records and tenders and quotations invited by the council in recent times.
Monali said after waiting for two-months, she got a reply, but the information provided by the council is either incorrect or has been denied under various pretexts. She alleged that she is ready to pay for photocopy of the documents.
When contacted chief municipal officer Bharat Singh Parihar claimed that all the information provided by the council is complete and correct.
“Council has provided all the information that she has sought through the RTI. Some information is confidential or related to an individual or the tender book is not updated, we made it clear in the reply,” Parihar said.
