Updated: Dec 24, 2020
Gopubandhu Chhatria, 45, JARASINGHA, ODISHA
PROVED: Through RTI the faulty construction of a check dam
BORN INTO a family of poor Dalit farmers, the one thing Chhatria owned was his land that was taken away from him to build a check dam. First, he was hopeful the dam would yield precious water for irrigation. But when a badly constructed leaky dam showed up, he filed an RTI to trace the money spent on the dam. Result? He was arrested on charges of assault. For four days, he was locked up and beaten. With his land mortgaged for legal fees, Chhatria is now a landless labourer, sustaining his family on daily wages of Rs. 70.