Rajani a RTI activist trainer by Sakshi was concerned about the poor implementation of the National Rural Employment  Guarantee Act (NREGA). The NREGA is designed to provide work to the poor rural Indians by providing them 100 days of work every year to build productive assets like roads, schools and irrigation projects in their villages. As is often the norm the money is misappropriated by the contractor-babu-politician  nexus. Rajani asked for the details of the projects implemented under NREGA in Santhpur Village in Bidar District of Karnataka.

She received four projects for Santhpur village but three of the project report did not have any details of  the project making inspection impossible. Further the people employed in all four projects were the same ( member of a local politicians family who have never stepped out ever for any hard labour). None of the projects and labour rolls contained signatures or thumb impressions of the recipients. In a hearing on a complaint filed by the Rajani at the Karnataka Information Commission, the Commissioner pulled up the CEO of the District and asked him to investigate the matter immediately and report back to the Commission. The CEO’s report is awaited. In the meanwhile Rajani has held a press conference in Bidar to highlight the issue and fifteen more RTI applications were filled.

The villagers of Santhpur who accompanied Rajani to the hearing were delighted. Whenever we went to meet the CEO he would refuse to even meet us. We really feel empowered to see him being forced to come to Bangalore  and being pulled for not doing his work properly that too in front of us.