Guwahati: While the Assam government insists there is no financial crisis, a shocking RTI reply has exposed a different reality—a government office so cash-strapped that it asked a citizen to pay for envelopes and stationery to process an RTI application.
The revelation came from the Golaghat District Territorial Building Division of PWD (Building and National Highway).
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In response to an RTI filed by activist Dipul Jyoti Hazarika, Executive Engineer Pankaj Borah not only responded partially to queries regarding infrastructure development schemes but also demanded Rs 250 to cover stationery and Rs 50 postal costs.
The breakdown of the demand included: Rs 190 for 38 copies at Rs 5 per page, Rs 10 for an envelope, and Rs 50 for postal expenses.
This contravenes the RTI Act, 2005, which caps copy charges at Rs 2 per page, not Rs 5. The letter has sparked outrage across Assam, casting a spotlight on the crumbling infrastructure within government departments.
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The timing couldn’t be more ironic. While Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma continues to project Assam as a rising state on track to be among the top five in India, ground-level realities tell a different story—departments running on fumes, borrowing funds just to stay afloat.
The letter from the executive engineer has gone viral, triggering fresh questions about the actual financial health of the state and whether the government is downplaying the depth of its budgetary crunch.
When a department can’t afford an envelope, what does that say about the dream of a “Bikshit Assam”?