Trapped in corruption, state bats for RTI Act

The newly appointed Governor, Ranjit Shekar Mooshahary, has one major worry: how to curtail corruption in the state.

The newly appointed Governor, Ranjit Shekar Mooshahary, has one major worry: how to curtail corruption in the state.

The Governor believes that the Right to Information RTI can act 8220;as a tool to fight corruption8221;. This comes as no surprise as after retiring from the Indian Police Service, Mooshahary worked as the Chief Information Commissioner of Assam and led the RTI movement from the front there. Though the Raj Bhavan has its own limitations in waging a war against corruption, Mooshahary can surely influence and inspire people to effectively use the RTI as a weapon to uncover corruption and punish the guilty.

Meghalaya has not really used the RTI widely. However, the state saw a flurry of accusations of corruption against most the sitting MLAs, based on RTI reports, just before the March 3 Assembly polls. Some of the legislators against whom accusation of misutilisation of MLA schemes was made, based on the RTI reports, did lose the election, but many others sailed through. Thus, it is debatable whether it was the RTI revelation or anti-incumbency factor that led to the defeat of the legislators.

In fact, none of the NGOs, who usually make noises about corruption prevailing in the state, has filed an RTI to unearth corruption.

The minimal use of RTI Act does not, however, suggest that corruption in Meghalaya is also minimal. In fact, the India Corruption Study 2007 says that corruption in Meghalaya is 8220;alarming8221;. Mooshahary had described the Northeast, including Meghalaya, as 8220;trapped in a whirlpool of corruption8221; after the report was released.

In 2003, E K Mawlong-led coalition government collapsed when its alliance partner, the NCP, pulled out after NGOs 8212; under the banner of People8217;s Rally Against Corruption 8212; accused the state Government of selling out the Kolkata Meghalaya House deal to Asian Housing Construction Limited. This was the only agitation against corruption that led to the ouster of a government in the state.

Also, take the case of six power projects that have been awarded to private companies by the previous Congress-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance MDA government. Several NGOs, political parties such as the NCP, United Democratic Party and others, which now form the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance MPA coalition government, had dubbed the agreement between the MDA government and the six private companies as a 8220;total sell out8221; and demanded that the deal be scrapped. The onus of scrapping the deal falls on the parties that had demanded it, as these political parties are now in power. After all, the NCP and its allies had fought the election on the plank of corruption in governance.