RTI crusader becomes victim of forgery

Chennai: The central government's Right to Information Act has virtually thrown open the iron doors of bureaucracy to the common citizen. The flipside is that activists seeking transparency can also become targets and be prevented from seeking information through RTI.

That is how V Gopalakrishnan of MGR Nagar landed in trouble. An ardent RTI crusader, Gopalakrishnan had shot off several applications to various government agencies several times demanding information on the basic amenities such as waterways, power supply, road-widening works and encroachments.

But on Monday night, a 100-strong mob gathered in front of his house and began abusing him for sending an RTI application to the Chennai corporation to clear encroachments. They wanted to know why Gopalakrishnan had demanded the demolition of three temples in MGR Nagar. For Gopalakrishnan, it was a blow out of the blue. The crowd was not convinced by my reply that I did not file the application. The frustrated people abused me and my family. There was total chaos until the police arrived on the scene, Gopalakrishnan told TOI.

The next morning, he took some of the temple authorities to the office of the local ward (131) and was shocked to find that application had indeed been filed by forging his signature. Worse, the application was completely written in Tamil, while he always prefers writing in English. His initial was also not on the application. I immediately lodged a complaint with the MGR Nagar police and the civic body. But what took me by surprise was the fact that the public got to know the applicant's name. In fact, the Saidapet zone are not coming out with a proper reply,Gopalakrishnan said.

His query on the de-silting programme in the MGR canal and on the encroachments on the canal bed, is yet to get a reply from corporation officials since August last year. Gopalakrishnan is the secretary of the Chennai chapter of Fifth Pillar, an NGO working against corruption in the administration.

By Julie Mariappan, Times of India epaper, Chennai, 07.07.08