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DIMAPUR — The public information officer (PIO) of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) India, managed by Nagaland Forest Management Project (NFMP), has been accused of misusing the fund under Tuensang district.
The Right to Information (RTI) activist and former secretary of the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), Topongchuba Chang, has accused the PIO, who is also the divisional forest officer of Tuensang, of providing misleading information in reply to his RTI filing.
Chang has accused the PIO of producing duplicate cash memos and utilisation certificate of entry point activity and water harvesting sheet. He has sought the concerned authority to produce the original challan so as to clear the issue.
He stated that funds are provided for plantation to the selected villages such as advance work, nursery, jungle clearance and maintenance through direct benefit transfer (DBT). He alleged that when the fund was sanctioned from the PMU, the officer called all the joint forest management committee (village level committee) chairmen to his office and collect the money in cash upto 30% from the total amount of the sanctioned money by telling them that it was the directive from the head office.
Claiming that there was no such directive from PMU to deduct percentage from the fund, he urged the concerned officer to refund the money which was deducted within this month.
Chang also alleged that some staff do not fulfill the requisite qualification, which was denied by the PIO. He appealed to cancel appointment of those staff and replace with qualified candidates, who are indigenous inhabitant and permanent residents of Tuensang district.
Alleging that the concerned officer hardly stays in station, he stated that the officer produced a fake and fabricated attendance register which recorded 100% attendance after filling an RTI.
The activist stated that he had made written complain to the chief secretary but no action has been taken so far. He appealed to the chief secretary to take appropriate action against the erring officer and implement ‘no work no pay’ policy of the government.
Chang also alleged that the concerned officer has threatened him to be ready for defamation case worth INR 100 crore.
He appealed to the people of Nagaland to be vigilant while availing any schemes or projects stating that such officers would always find a way to make a fortune out of poor man’s pocket. He especially requested those beneficiary villages which are already selected under JICA project to be more careful and sincere while executing the works.