A resident of Panaliar in West Jaiñtia Hills district has threatened to lodge a complaint against the Executive Engineer of PWD (Roads), Shangpung division for denying answers to a query posed through the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The resident, RK Rymbai told reporters today that he had filed an application under the RTI seeking the name of the contractor who executes road repairs under the division.
While other queries were answered the name of the contractor was not revealed by the EE, D. Tariang, who he said, quoted section 8 (i) under the RTI Act for not giving out the name.
Rymbai said as per the RTI, within six months the amount spend in 2022-2023 is Rs 2.43 crore till June in the subdivision 1, while in the Shangpung Subdivision Rs 1.63 crore. However, there are no signs of such works, he added.
The resident said that surprisingly, the NEC Khliehriat division PWD roads provided him with the answers to the same query posed to the Shangpung division, including the question which the EE denied.
“This shows that the EE is afraid to reveal the answer,” Rymbai said and set three days deadline for the officer to provide the answer or a complaint will be lodged with the State Information Commission.
Rymbai also said that once he gets all the needed information he will lodge a complaint with the Meghalaya Lokayukta for wastage of public money.
