Manoj Kumar Karwarsa, Haryana

Fourty five year old Manoj Kumar Karwarsa is a school teacher who has filed several RTIs to expose illegal activities in his village. In his village, Government land had been encroached upon and that too by the Panchayat members themselves. He therefore filed numerous RTIs to bring out the truth. This particular case is about illegal encroachment of some portion of the Government land meant for sub-health Center by one Amar Singh, a member of the Panchayat.

The applicant filed an RTI with the PWD (B & R) Circle, Hissar seeking information on 4 points regarding demarcation of boundary of Primary Sub Health Center at village Kirdhan in Hissar. He asked for the total area of the Health Centre and if open space was left around the boundary wall, the details of the same.

The Public Information Officer (PIO) answered that the area of the building portion (and not of the total area as he had asked for) was 975 sqft and no area was left out around the boundary wall. Dissatisfied with the information received, he approached the first appellate authority, which ordered the PIO to provide information within 7 days. When he still did not get the information he filed a second appeal.

Interestingly, the PIO during the hearing submitted that there was a variation or discrepancy in the records maintained. It was found that the total land handed over by the health department to the PWD (B&R) Department was much larger than the land actually in possession with the PWD (B&R) Dept. Therefore, Information Commissioner Asha Sharma not only ordered correct information to be given to the appellant but also ordered the Financial Commissioner and PWD (B&R) Dept. to hold a departmental enquiry by a senior officer in the issue on a time bound basis and take appropriate action to re-claim the land. It ordered a copy of the enquiry report to be handed over to the commission as well. In the order she noted, ''This is a serious matter involving loss of valuable property and requires immediate investigation and remedial action for restoration of the missing property and also penal action against the culprits.''

Due to his RTI, the corruption was disclosed. It was found that one Amar Singh, a member of the Panchayat, had encroached on it. The boundary wall was finally demolished and the missing land was reclaimed.

In another similar case, the panchayat land of Kridhan village and the “Phirni” had been illegally occupied by Ram Swarup who was a Panchayat member and his brother. Therefore, Manoj filed an RTI with the sarpanch of the village asking information about details of Panchayat land and the ''Phirni''.

The applicant was given incorrect information by the Sarpanch at first so he filed a first appeal and then subsequently the second appeal. The State Information Commission ordered correct information to be given. Only after this he received the information. With the information that he received, he filed a complaint to the Deputy Commissioner about the illegal occupation.

Subsequently, a showcause notice was issued to Ram Swarup, under Section 51 (3)(a) of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act 1995 on October 10, 2008. The Panch, Ram Swarup, replying to the notice informed that the encroachment had been removed. On this, the Block Development and Panchayat Officer was asked to inspect the land and give a report. In his report he informed that the Panch, Ram Swarup, had demolished the encroachment on the Panchayat Land but not on the "Phirni". Therefore another hearing was held on March 26, 2009 regarding the issue. Again the Panch informed that he had removed the encroachment on the "Phirni" as well. Again the Panchayat Officer was asked to inspect and give a report.

When the Panchayat Officer went for a field inspection, it was found that the encroachment was still there and had not been removed. The Deputy Commissioner then invoking his power under Section 51 (3)(C) of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act ordered the Panch to be removed from his post noting that ''Ukt Panch ka Panch Pad par bane rehna janhit aur panchayat hit me nahi hai aur najayaz kabza karke apne kartavyo se gambhir katauhi ki hai'' (The continuance of Ram Swarup as the Panch would not be in the interest of the public and the panchayat. The member had committed a serious offence to his responsibilities as by illegally encroaching on the Panchayat Land.)

Kumar says, “After this, the Panchayat member was removed and his replacement is now working well.”

In another case, the Sarpanch of Kirdhan village was siphoning off money meant for old age and widow pension from the Government in the names of people who were long dead. The applicant therefore filed an RTI with the District Social Welfare Officer, Fatehabad asking about the disbursements of old and widow pensions.

The applicant received all the information that he had asked for. Based on the information that he received, he filed a complaint to the District Commissioner and the Police Superintendent, Fatehabad against Amar Singh, a member of the Panchayat. Due to this, false cases were filed against Manoj.

Finally, an enquiry was conducted by the District Social Welfare Officer, who on a field visit found that some of the people on whose names old age and widow pension was being drawn were long dead. It also came out that money was being taken by Amar Singh. A case was registered against him under section 420, 409, 467 and 468 of IPC. After this RTI, the applicant claims that now pensions are given only after proper verification, i.e. after visiting the homes of the pensioners.

Due to his efforts, he received various threats and many false cases were lodged against him. He says, “Many false cases were lodged against me but I did not give up. I continued my fight. The cases had to be withdrawn later.”