Info crisis: State has no reply to RTI plea on grass beds

Although the state chief information commissioner has asked alert citizens to monitor government projects through the use of RTI, not many are satisfied with the way their efforts have found support.

The experience of Bhaskar Prabhu, an RTI activist and a member of Mahiti Adhikar Manch, an NGO that monitors government spending, has not been good enough.

Prabhu filed an application to monitor the money spent on grass beds at tree bases on Dr Ambedkar Road in F/South ward. He also sought information on the expenses on iron guards around the trees.

The details sought were for work orders worth Rs7.26 lakh that were passed in October 2008 and January 2009. The work was to be completed by March 2009.

But the public information officer (PIO) did not respond to his April 2009 application in time. After the hearing at the first appellate authority (FAA) in May 2009, the applicant got misleading and incomplete information.

“They did give information of grass beds, but not the locations of the work. It was impossible to see if the work was completed,” said Prabhu.

There was no information of the 164 iron grill tree guards for which money was already paid. “The ward instead provided information of roads that my application had not mentioned. The money set aside for the guards is 25% of the entire amount. When complained to the ward officer and deputy superintendent of gardens, around 20 guards were put and some petty penalty was imposed on the contractor. There is still no information to conduct the audit,” a frustrated Prabhu said.

When contacted, H Kale, assistant commissioner, F/ South ward, said, “The file is not in my hand anymore. It has been given to some other officers. We have slapped a fine of Rs50,000 on a contractor.”