Nazmul Hashan, from the village of Askikandi, West Garo Hills, has filed multiple Right to Information (RTI) requests with the Demdema Community and Rural Development Block and Agriculture Department after the activist claimed there were various anomalies within the two.
Hashan had earlier alleged that he was not provided with information from the Agriculture Department pertaining to the utilisation of money meant for flood relief for farmers.
The District Agricultural Officer (DAO) had stated, in his reply to the request that the information had gone missing and would be provided later. However, this has yet to come through.
In a new RTI, the activist sought information on an amount of Rs 7.115 crore that was transferred electronically to the office account of the DAO. This grant was for relief assistance to the families whose crops were damaged due to flash floods in July 2016, April 2017 and August 2017 in West Garo Hills.
The RTI sought the list of beneficiaries along with the amount provided as relief and the account numbers the money was transferred to. It also sought for the bank statement on utilisation and the utilisation certificate.
In the case of the Demdema C&RD Block, Hashan sought for the total number of villages in the block as well as the number of Village Employment Councils (VECs).
The activist also wanted to know whether the VEC functionaries were appointed through election or selection. This follows several complaints of VECs being arbitrarily broken into smaller parts, with the functionaries being selected by the C&RD Block.
Hashan also sought to know the norms and rules under the rural employment guarantee scheme (MGNREGS) for the appointment of a VEC president, secretary and other office bearers.
