<<Citizen Selection Procedure

Click on the names to view details

Sunil Kumar Mahto
Citizen-nominee for RTI Awards 2009 2009
Reference Number: C192
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Organization: none
Nominated by: self and Vishnu Rajgadia
Why is he short-listed for RTI Awards 2009?
For conducting several RTI investigations that have uncovered corruption in public works and services and helped in holding public authorities accountable for their misdeeds.
Mahto, a young social activist from Ranchi, filed an RTI application in March 2008 at district planning office-Ranchi, seeking physical inspection of four public works in his presence. These works were to be completed between 2003 and 2007.
Mahto found that engineers responsible for getting the works done did not even know the location of those work!
Physical verification confirmed what was already known: no work had been completed. A complaint by Mahto led to departmental enquiry against the Junior Engineer and the Assistant Engineer, who had since retired.
It transpired that Assistant Engineer had long taken out Rs 28 lakh, the money earmarked for the works. Most of that money, however, had gone into personal accounts of Assistant Engineer and Junior Engineer while the projects had been neglected.
The enquiry led to recovery of entire amount with interest and action against the JE and the retired AE. While the JE is currently in jail, AE’s pension and retirement benefits were withheld.
In another investigation, Mahto used RTI Act to inspect in July 2007 one of the five road works in Ranchi that should have been completed by December 2005.
All the works were either incomplete or shoddy enough to be washed off by a day’s rains. It also turned out that the contractor had already been paid Rs 60 crore even before the completion of work.
After the inspection, Mahto wrote a status report of the roadwork in question and obtained signatures of the engineers concerned on it.
As the newspapers reported that glaring case of corruption, the road construction department got the works done with much improved quality.
As a member of Jharkhand RTI Forum, Mahto has also done significant work in promoting the use of RTI Act 2005.

Details of the nomination

Mahto, who hails from Silli block of Ranchi Rural district, was employed in a Noida-based private company before returning to his home state in 2002 and becoming a full time social activist.
He is one of the most active members of Jharkhand RTI Forum, a group of citizens working to use and promote the use of RTI Act 2005 in the state.
He is also an office bearer of youth branch of a political party.
Mahto has conducted a large number of RTI enquiries into public works that are done only on paper while the allocated funds go into the pockets of corrupt officials.
In February 2007, he filed an RTI application at road construction department-Ranchi Rural, demanding copies of concession agreement for construction of five road works that, by common knowledge, should have been completed many months ago. Overall, it was a Rs 73 crore work order.
His application also contained the following questions.

  1. What timeframes were specified in the concession agreement for completion of road works? Was any extension allowed? Give details of extensions allowed.
  2. Were the road-works completed in timeframes specified in the concession agreement? If not, what penalties were imposed on the concessionaire? If no penalties were imposed, then why?
  3. How much of the payments have so far been made to the concessionaire?
  4. Please arrange for me physical inspection of Bundu-Rahe-Banta road work and taking of a sample of construction material.

The response of the department was, predictably, to discourage the applicant.
In its first reply to Mahto’s application, the department demanded Rs 2100 for doing the needful -- Rs 400 for photocopying and the remainder for arranging transport and meeting other expenses of the engineers who were to be present at the inspection site! Mahto reminded the department that engineers were duty-bound to be present at the sites every day.
On appeal, the first appellate authority endorsed the demand for Rs 1700 for physical inspection. After Mahto approached the state information commission (SIC), the department sent him, in April 2007, the copies of the concession agreement.
In another communication in June 2007, the department informed him that the works should have been completed by December 2005, but were not and so the concessionaire was given until April 2007 to complete works.
Mahto was also informed, alarmingly, that concessionaire had already been paid Rs 60 crore for works that were still far from complete.
Meanwhile, deciding the matter about Rs 1700 for physical inspection, the SIC directed the department to arrange the inspection without any charge as the statutory time-limit had already passed.
The department was then compelled to fix a day in July 2007 for physical inspection of Bundu-Rahe-Banta road work.
Done in the presence of an executive engineer and two junior engineers, the inspection confirmed what was already known to the local citizens: much of the road had been washed off in rains due to work that had no relationship with what was specified in the concession agreement.
Mahto then made a written statement of the condition of the road and a commitment by the executive engineer that the road will be re-laid in line with the concession agreement. He also obtained signatures of the three engineers on that statement.
As the local newspapers picked the story, the department was compelled to re-start the works on a war footing. Their final quality left much to be desired but was better than what was produced earlier.
It was a significant victory for a common citizen. Mahto had just used RTI Act to make a frontal attack on the largely unchallenged regime of corruption in public works.

In a similar RTI investigation, Mahto filed an RTI application in March 2008 at district planning office-Ranchi, demanding physical inspection in his presence of 10 public works, including some check dams and roads.
Each of these works were commonly known to be either progressing at a snail’s pace or stalled.
Again after much stonewalling, the public authority fixed a day in August 2008 for the inspection of four works, out of 10 requested, whose implementation was stated to be within its supervision.
It also sent Mahto a status report of the 10 works, including the estimated amount for each of the work and the stage of completion of the works.
The inspection confirmed, in the presence of a junior engineer, that none of the work had yet been completed.
Mahto later learnt that the Assistant Engineer had long back drawn Rs 28 lakh, i.e. full amount for the four works. A complaint made by him to the district planning office started an enquiry against the Assistant Engineer, who had since retired, and Junior Engineer.
It turned out in the enquiry that the AE had drawn Rs 28 crore as advance, kept 8 lakh in his personal bank account, and transferred Rs 20 lakh to the JE who, in turn, stowed the money in his own account instead of spending it on the works.
Having siphoned off the money, the two engineers had allowed the projects to languish.
It also transpired in the enquiry that there was a long list of engineers who had been drawing funds in advance for various projects and putting them in their personal accounts. They would then deliberately delay the projects in order to cream off the interest on illegally acquired money if not the entire amount.
The misappropriated amounts were recovered from the two engineers and FIRs were filed against them. While the JE is currently in jail, AE’s pension and retirement benefits were withheld.
It was also decided that all engineers inappropriately drawing public funds would be similarly proceeded against.
Mahto has conducted several other such investigations that have uncovered corruption and irregularities and led to positive public impact.