RTI petitioners allege various authorities in the government grossly mismanaging all the possible opportunities for selfish aggrandizement at the expense of the exchequer
Dimapur, July 12 (MExN): The Government of Nagaland has spent a staggering Rs. 320, 43, 34, 909 (Rupees three hundred twenty crore, forty three lakh, thirty four thousand, nine hundred nine) on land acquisition between 2006 and 2015.
This was informed in a press statement from a team of former activists of the Sumi Kiphimi Kuqhakulu (SKK). The team had unearthed this data through the use of RTI applications.
The press statement, signed by Aheto V. Yeputhomi, Hukavi T. Yeputhomi, Kitoho S. Rotokha, L. Khevishe Achumi and S. Zhevihe Sumi—all former presidents of the SKK—felt that various authorities in the government had been “grossly mismanaging” all the “possible opportunities” for “selfish aggrandizement” at the “expense of the exchequer.”
The RTI applications filed by them for data from “appropriate authorities” including Deputy Commissioners of the various districts of Nagaland resulted in information that the Government of Nagaland has acquired 273 pieces of land/plots for different departments for various developmental projects from 2006-07 to 2015. Out of these, 162 were either paid for or duly compensated with a total amount of Rs. 320,43,34,909/-.
It was not possible to immediately estimate the average land compensation rate or the highest or lowest amount paid for land by the Government—the 20-page document showed land measurements in terms of Sq. ft., Sq. Mtrs., acres and hectares, while some did not provide any measurement of land acquired for particular development work.
111 plots were shown either yet to be paid for/compensated or information was not provided by the authority concerned as to the payment status of these plots. “For such dereliction, appropriate step had been initiated against the authorities who have failed to comply including Deputy Commissioner, Peren,” informed the press statement.
Several plots which were “already paid (for) but not acquired by the respective Department concerned, example at Hovukhu Village for NIIT and Go-Carting, Padam Pukhuri, which was deliberately misplaced as Chekiye village, raises lots of unanswered questions for which the applicant shall initiate appropriate step,” stressed the five RTI applicants while providing the details of the RTI response from the 11 districts of Nagaland as well as Shillong, from where the Government of Nagaland has acquired land for various purposes.
The public leaders made the whole data available for public perusal so that “all the common public may discern on how our Government works for over all round development of the State and collectively pursue such issues of public importance in the days to come.”
