Unhappy over CAPART’s affairs, Hazare to go on fast

Renowned social activist Anna Hazare has threatened to go on a fast unto death at Raj Ghat following irregularities in the functioning of Council for Advancement of Peoples’ Action and Rural Technology and the government’s efforts at putting file notings out of the purview of the Right to Information Act.

Renowned social activist Anna Hazare has threatened to go on a fast unto death at Raj Ghat following irregularities in the functioning of Council for Advancement of Peoples’ Action and Rural Technology and the government’s efforts at putting file notings out of the purview of the Right to Information Act.

Hazare, currently in the Capital, has written a strongly worded letter to Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh explaining his disappointment with CAPART and it’s failure to provide information as per the provisions of RTI.

‘‘The Government of India has promulgated the Right to Information Act, however, it is not being implemented in the real sense in CAPART office,” the letter said. He added that since he has not been able to improve the functioning of the agency, he will return the Padmabhushan Award and undertake a fast unto death.

Capart funds NGOs and its mandate is to uplift the life of people below the poverty line through models that may be replicated in other parts of the country. Hazare is a member of the executive committee and disenchanted since the agency has not yet been able to put in place an effective monitoring and evaluation system of grants that are allocated. Besides, he reminded Singh that some decisions taken in the executive committee meetings at his behest last March to increase its efficiency have not been implemented by the agency.

What lends credence to Hazare’s accusations is a recent report compiled by the Home Ministry that highlighted the discrepancies in the organisation. Smaller NGOs with less budgets are reportedly ignored when it comes to allotment of funds for projects. Appalled at the state of affairs, a group of 156 NGOs had also intimated the prime minister and President on July 14 that Capart was promoting the “thekedari system” that could only fuel a “dalali sanskriti”.

It is learnt that the Prime Minister’s Office has asked for an explanation from the Director General Veena S Rao on the allegations.