HUDA asked to publicise beneficiaries’ list

ROHTAK: In a sharp-worded order, the state chief information commissioner (CIC) has asked the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to upload the list of all the beneficiaries who have been allotted land at concessional rates on its website.

The CIC passed the order while hearing the appeal of RTI activist Harinder Dhingra.

The appellant had asked for the list of such beneficiaries from HUDA, maintaining that this information should have had been suo motu on its website as per the RTI Act.

However, after he did not get any reply from HUDA on his RTI and the first appeal, he approached the state CIC.

The newly appointed CIC, Yashpal Singhal, passed the order asking HUDA to upload the list of the beneficiaries within six weeks on its website. He also observed that HUDA did not discharge its obligation diligently. The list would help people identify irregularities in the land allotment procedure of HUDA.

According to the RTI activist, hundreds of FIRs have been registered in the state against the beneficiaries of the reserved categories, who are only allowed to get a plot once from HUDA in their lifetime, getting multiple plots by furnishing false affidavits and concealing information. Recently in Rohtak, some army officers were booked for such fraud.