-The Times of India MUMBAI: Eight years after the RTI Act was enacted, a reality check reveals that accessing information in most parts of the country is a long wait. While most states do not have enough commissioners and the pendency of appeals has only increased, in several other parts of India, the process of hearing appeals has become non-functional. RTI Activist Sunil Ahya, who commissioned the survey by connecting with information...

-Economic and Political Weekly The Right to Information mechanism is sought to be diluted by certain bodies by the arbitrary use of pre-existing procedures and rules which were enacted at a time when citizens' right to information had little or no consequence. These rules also lack procedural safeguards and have onerous fees devoid of any reasonableness. The aggrieved citizen had no choice but to approach the courts. This trend must be...

-The Hindu Benefits elude minorities, says RTI Activist New Delhi: Inspired by Arvind Kejriwal's recent dharna outside the Rail Bhavan, Delhi resident Faheem Baig staged a dramatic protest, to catch the Prime Minister's attention, during the launch of the National Waqf Development Corporation here on Wednesday. Manmohan Singh had just finished his address when Mr. Baig got up and said government schemes for religious minorities had never reached the beneficiaries. The Unani practitioner and...

-The Hindustan Times Mumbai: Close to 74.2% seats meant to be set aside for students from the economically weaker sections (EWS) have not been filled up for the academic year 2013-14 in schools across the city, revealed a query sought under the Right to Information Act. Many of the schools were found not to have filled even a single seat under the EWS quota mandated by the Right to Education Act...

-The Indian Express Social audits should not be judged by state response alone. They create awareness about rights and create engaged citizens. This article is in response to Farzana Afridi's ‘Social audit isn't enough' (IE, January 22). Social audits have been enshrined as one of the transparency and accountability tools in the MGNREGA. Such accountability mechanisms aim to strengthen the otherwise weak institutions of delivery as they engage the beneficiaries in the...