[rti4empowerment] LEARN HOW RTI ACTIVISTS NAILED KRIPYASHANKAR SINGH

LESSON:-  UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL

HOW TO  NAIL  BIG SHARKS:-

 

The man behind Kripashankar Singh's fall

ABSTRACTS OF Sanjay Thirwari

 

We felt that the since Kripashankar Singh is a Congressman and both the state and Centre are being run by Congress governments, the case would never see the light of day.

Can you please tell us how you went about filing so many RTIs?

If one person files so many RTI queries, the authorities are bound to doubt the intention of the applicant. So very smartly, we decided to share various government offices amongst me and some of my friends, who have been with me since 2005.

So while one friend filed a RTI in the school in Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh) from where Kripashankar claims to have cleared his HSC (higher secondary certificate) from, one of us filed an RTI in the income tax department; another filed an RTI in the Mantralaya (the Maharashtra state secretariat).

When one of us filed an RTI in the collector's office, we found that some crucial papers regarding his property are missing! So on and so forth...that is how we were able to compile the data.

Who are these friends? Can you name them?

I do not think is it right to name them. Suffice to say they are friends who have been with me for a long time and are interested in social work just like me.

While we did not face any major hiccups, it was not that easy. The whole process was backed by some serious follow-ups.

It appeared that the system was trying to protect and cover Kripashankar's lies rather than being candid about it in the RTI replies.

Despite writing clearly and to the point, the officers would give half-baked replies or an incomplete set of papers. So there was a lot of follow-up that has gone into this.

For instance, we have still not got any reply on the number of chartered flights he has taken and the expenses incurred.