Odisha Development Conclave, Transparency and Jagadanand Mohanty

( Bulletin-2)

Whether  it was Development  Conclave  or  Show  of  Jagadanand Mohanty  of CYSD

I  got opportunity  to  come across the agenda of 3-day programme of Odisha Development  Conclave-2018, but  could not  find any plenary session  devoted  for  discussion on RTI- A tool for transparency  and accountable governance in the country, Lokpal  and Lokayukta, Grievance Redressal mechanism  etc.  Good Governance is much-discussed buzz word in Civil Society Forum in the state.  Many NGOs   are also working  on  governance issues  in the state  and advocate  for transparency  in the administration, though  very  few  of them  work  on RTI.   As I have seen, Sri Jagadand Mohanty also projected himself great advocate  of  good governance . He had also served as State Information Commissioner for five years ( 2008-13), a transparency watch-dog  under RTI Act. However, during  this period, we have  exposed  him  how he   as Information Commissioner  has acted  to destroy  RTI Act  in the state  establishing unholy alliance with corrupt bureaucracy and demoralized  RTI Activists  and discouraged  them  from  carrying out   their mission  to  fight   for   transparency  and accountability in the administration.   When   we exposed  his true  character publicly and his ignorance  about law  and lack of expertise  to adjudicate  the case, he influenced the then    State  Chief Information Commissioner    to file defamation case  against me and Chitta Behera  in the court of First Class Judicial magistrate , Bhubaneswar  in October, 2010.  The case is pending  in the  court till  today.

However, without  being disturbed by  this conspiracy  of  Information Commission,  we  continue  to  bring to limelight  about  his dangerous performance as  Information Commissioner.  After  his tenure is over, As I have seen,  he keeps discussing  about RTI and transparent  governance  in various public meetings.

But  I got astonished  why  the same person failed  to keep  a session devoted  for  discussion on RTI  in Odisha Development  Conclave  and  transparency  about source of funding mobilized  from different  sources.  I was asking many of my friends about source of funding for this mega event. But nobody could speak about it. Nobody knows about it. They said that CYSD people were managing and controlling everything. All the NGOs who also participated in this conclave are hardly aware about the source.  Many people are alleging that Sri Jagadanand  and his NGO CYSD  has mobilized  huge fund from corporate  house  in form of funding  and also advertisement.  Same issue  was also cropped  up in  Odisha Development Conclave-2016, as the NGOs are still in dark  about  source of fund  and its utilization.  

Odisha, our beloved state, endowed with huge natural resources  and man power  is  still suffering  from hunger, malnutrition and earned notoriety for  being highest poverty stricken  population  in the country. It is due to maladministration, corruption and lack of transparency and accountability. Since 2005, the State Government has tried its best to dilute  and destroy RTI Act  in the  State and Odisha Information Commission like Sri Jagadanand Mohanty  has contributed  to it. The office of Lokpal was closed. Lokayukta  was  not appointed . So unless transparency is enforced ,  corruption cannot  be checked  and   effective administration can not  be streamlined. Transparency  in administration can ensure effective delivery of services  to the people  and generate public demand  to access to  services meant for them. The decade-long fight of RTI Activists has  contributed  a little   in this field and exposed  huge scams  and brought to limelight  true  character of Nabin Patnaik, most  corrupt chief Minister in history of Odisha.  

So any programme without transparency and accountability is big zero. The organizers of  Odisha Development  Conclave and NGOs  involved in this process  must  realize  it  which is  demand of the time. I appeal   them  to  immediately  disclose  the details of source of funding and allocation of fund  for  different  activity  of the Conclave   in order to set an example  in NGO sector. Sudarshan Chhotaray , journalist of the  Pioneer  was sharing  with  me  that  when  he asked  about  source of funding  for  conclave  in press meet,  Sri Jagadanand  and others   got terribly disturbed and  did not  reply anything   which has already been  highlighted  in “ the Orissa  Pioneer”.

We the RTI Activists  are not sitting idle. 20 RTI Applications   are being filed  tomorrow  to  different  offices including  CYSD , Bhubaneswar   seeking  information  about  budget,  source of funding, various activity including  bill and  vouchures.

We should also remember that  any  collective programme   can not  be  one-man show  and one-man propaganda.  It  is very dangerous trend and practice of feudal  culture  in Odisha  which  is against the spirit  of democracy. The learned NGO leaders  must  be aware and cautious   about  it.

Pradip Pradhan

RTI Activist, Odisha

M-9937843482

Date- 27.8.18