Senior journalist Dharmendra Jha and Dan Bahadur Karki associated with the RTI Support Centre of freedom1 Forum has sought the information about different issues as expenditure details on various headings during the construction of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project. As per the Clause 3 of the RTI Act 2007, Mr Jha and Mr Karki applied in the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, and Ministry of Transport Management on October 8, 2012, seeking the following information: I. Compensation provided to the local land owners on different headings from the source to Sundarijal while constructing road and setting up infrastructures; details about the landowners who were compensated II. Amount spent on different headings under the economic and social programs launched in the VDCs affected with the Melamchi Drinking Water Project, details of programs, audit reports, and the progress report of the Project.
Freedom Forum is a prominent non-governmental organization in Nepal dedicated to institutionalizing democracy, protecting and promoting human rights, press freedom, freedom of expression, right to information, promoting audit accountability, open and accountable budget, public finance reforms, citizen engagement in public finance management and citizen participation in audit. Established in February 2005, the organization emerged in response to the political turmoil following Former King Gyanendra’s coup dated February 1, 2005, which imposed severe restrictions on media and democratic rights. A group of media professionals, legal experts, and academics founded Freedom Forum to safeguard Nepal’s hard-earned democratic freedoms during this repressive period.
