Shillong: A traditional village court in Meghalaya has ostracised three families for filing RTIs which detected anomalies in the NREGS scheme and cast aspersions on village authorities.
The families of Jongksha village in East Khasi Hills district were debarred from drawing ration from fair price shops or availing benefits from the Anganwadi centre or use public transport. They have also been boycotted by other villagers.
Families of Fatima Mynsong, Acquiline Songthiang and Matilda Suting were ostracised by a 'dorbar' in the village recently after their RTIs brought to light anomalies in the implementation of the NREGS scheme, official sources said today.
The sources said the RTIs filed by the victims revealed that there was no accountability on the part of the village employment council.
"Forged signatures were used to avail benefits of the NREGS scheme by the village employment council. There were also various financial and procedural irregularities in the implementation of the scheme," an official in the state community and rural development department said.
The village headman, Karmelin Rynjah, however, defended the "verdict", saying it was a majority decision. The victims have approached the Meghalaya Right to Information Movement, an NGO, for help.
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