-The Telegraph The state's largest minority community has held key ministerial and other constitutional posts whether under the rule of Congress, Samyukta Socialist Party, Janata Party, Janata Dal or the RJD Patna: Bihar has for the first time since Independence got a ruling coalition without a single MLA from its largest minority community. None of the four parties in the National Democratic Alliance — the BJP, Janata Dal United, Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular...

-The Telegraph The government has not institutionalized SAUs which are at times intimidated when it comes to accessing data on various programmes The auditing agility of government programmes seems to have gained strength. After the recent floods in Assam, the state planned to carry out a social audit of relief measures to look into corruption and bribery. This is the first time that any government is trying to reinforce a social audit...

-PTI/ The Hindu BJP, in its manifesto for Bihar elections, had promised free COVID-19 vaccine once it is cleared by the ICMR. The BJP’s promise of providing free coronavirus vaccine in its manifesto for the Bihar assembly polls is not violative of the provisions of the model code, the Election Commission has held. Responding to a complaint by RTI activist Saket Gokhale, the commission said it has found no violation of the provisions...

-The Indian Express Countries more successful in curbing COVID-19 are welfare states, ruled by left-of-centre parties. There is a lesson here. A plea has been filed before the Supreme Court, seeking to remove the words “socialist” and “secular” from the Preamble of the Constitution. But despite a persistent erosion over the last couple of decades, both principles were central to the type of republic our political forefathers had imagined. With the embrace...

-The Hindu The worst blow to the right to information regime has come in the form of a persistent attack on the transparency watchdogs This year marks 15 years of the enactment of the Right to Information (RTI) law, which has empowered millions to assert their citizenship and show truth to power. It was a vibrant grassroots movement, led not just by the educated elite but the working poor across the country,...