NEW DELHI: Noted social activist and Magsaysay award winner Aruna Roy has filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Delhi Jal Board seeking inspection of "all files'' including draft agreements, noting on the files, reports of the consultants and other documents relating to the World Bank funded projected Delhi Water Supply and Sewerage Project also popularly known as 24X7 project.

In addition to this, Ms. Roy, also a member of the National Advisory Council headed by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, has written to the Delhi Jal Board CEO, Rakesh Mohan, citing the assurance given by the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, who is also chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board, stating that they could examine the issue thoroughly including all the files and documents.

The Chief Minister had also written to the convenor of the Right to Water Campaign in this connection, but despite all such assurances, a gag order has been put in place in the Jal Board denying information under the Right to Information Act on various issues including the controversial water privatisation project.

In her application, Ms. Roy has sought details of all that has happened ever since the Jal Board decided to approach the World Bank for finance.

She has further asked that all the files should include all aspects of this project including, but not limited to, all correspondence, minutes of all meetings, award of contracts, payments made, terms of reference for various consultants, all agreements including draft agreements, various reports made by the consultants including draft reports and all file noting.

"Since I do not have any idea, whatsoever, of the files available on this subject, I will not be able to mention specifically the names of the files desired by me at this stage. After inspection, I would indicate the documents, which I am interested in and would request copies thereof", she has stated in her application.

In a separate letter to Mr. Mohan, she has stated that the reason for filing the application was also motivated by the need to work out and see what kind of alternatives could be worked out for people-public partnerships in resolving the problems being faced by the government and the consumers in the water sector in the Capital.

She also pointed out that the alumni of IIT and IIM and other faculties of such institutes have shown great interest in working out an alternative to this privatisation programme.

Ms. Roy's application comes close on the heels of a similar application of the NGO Parivartan convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, being virtually rejected by the Jal Board. In response to the application filed by Mr. Kejriwal, the Jal Board had allowed him to inspect a set of documents that were not only inadequate but hardly had any information relating to the 24X7 project.

This had led to accusations that the Jal Board and the Delhi Government had much to hide and little to share on the project and its reluctance to part with information on the World Bank sponsored scheme was indicative of the lack of transparency that was being adopted on such a crucial matter of public importance.

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