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‘Seek info on MoUs through RTI’

BHUBANESWAR: Ramon Magsaysay awardee and Right to Information campaign activist Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that the State government should not take the consent of people as granted and impose whatever model of development it wanted.

Interacting with activists, media and intellectuals here, Mr. Kejriwal said what the people needed was a healthy discussion on cost-benefit of the upcoming projects. “If the project is good, one supports it and if it is found to be bad, opposes it,” he said.

Mr. Kejriwal called upon people to start filing applications under the RTI Act seeking details on the Memoranda of Understanding signed by the government with different companies to put up projects and examine those in public domain.

He criticised the government for conducting public hearings for projects under security blanket. “When people don’t feel free to express their views, what is the meaning of such public hearing,” Mr. Kejriwal questioned.

The former civil servant said: “Several court cases have been slapped against people, especially those opposing projects in mining belts.

The coercive operation is making the matter worse. The government, companies as well as people should be transparent in their approach to carry forward the development process.”

The famed RTI activist visited a few of the tribal dominated areas, which were recently in news for cholera outbreak, said he was aghast by the prevalence of acute poverty. Criticising the government’s handling of the epidemic he said:

“When cholera broke out, the government came out with urgent works under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) to help people recover financially. After a few months, the workers are yet to get their wages.”

Mr. Kejriwal said RTI gave a solution to make things better. The activist was scheduled to meet State Information Commissioner on Monday.

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