RTI applicant threatened, ostracised by local residents

Imphal, Aug 26 (PTI) An applicant who sought information on the construction of an additional room of a school under the RTI Act, was not only threatened but also ostracised by villagers in interior Manipur. Biren Luwang, a resident of Wakhong village, told newsmen here yesterday that he had submitted an application to the Manipur Information Commission on April 27 last wanting to know whether the land where the additional room of Wakhong primary school was being constructed belonged to the school or to individual persons. The commission officials asked the superintendent of police (Imphal East district) on May 17 to find out the details of the additional room, he said. Following the submission of his application to the Manipur information commission (MIC), he said he was threatened by a member of the Development Committee of Wakhong village, Thangjam Inaocha, also a member of the said school management committee. He alleged that he was also threatened by the villagers who also ostracised him at Inaocha's instance . As a result, he said he and his family could not buy any essential items from shops in the village nor any work was given to his family under the National Rural Employment Generation Scheme. The boycott continues even today, he said. He said that the land where the additional room was constructed belonged to two individuals who are no more and had no relatives. The construction of the additional room of the school was being carried out under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme.