Former chief justice of India KG Balakrishnan on Friday said the Right To Information (RTI) Act "was grossly misused" and needed amending to prevent the misuse. "It is time for introspection on the five-year-old RTI Act. It is grossly misused. Most of the applicants are applying the RTI not for public good, but for misuse," Balakrishnan said at a seminar on "RTI-Key to Good Governance", organised by the Institute of Secretariat...
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Millennium Development Goals & India by KS Jacob
The Millennium Development declaration was a visionary document, which sought partnership between rich and poor nations to make globalisation a force for good. Its signatories agreed to explicit goals on a specific timeline. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set ambitious targets for reducing hunger, poverty, infant and maternal mortality, for reversing the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and giving children basic education by 2015. These also included gender equality,...
More »What the UID conceals by R Ramakumar
The UID project has both ‘security' and ‘developmental' dimensions. The former leads to an invasive state; the latter leaves us with a retreating state. Is identity the “missing link” in India's efforts to rise as an “inclusive” economic superpower? Can an identity-linked and technology-based solution change the face of governance in India? Given the euphoria around the Unique Identification (UID) project, one is tempted to believe so. However, a careful look...
More »Court rejects plea to make property a fundamental right by J Venkatesan
The Supreme Court has dismissed a public interest litigation petition seeking a direction to make ‘right to property' a fundamental right under the Constitution. Though the ‘right to property' was deleted by the 44 {+t} {+h} Constitution Amendment in 1978, it was challenged only in 2007 in the context of acquisition of large extents of land for Special Economic Zones, and the court issued notice to the Centre. It was contended in...
More »‘The RTI Act has not done what it should’ by Ashutosh Shukla
“Has the Right to Information (RTI) Act served its purpose? Well, the answer is that it has not done what it should have,” said former judge of the Bombay high court, justice Hosbet Suresh, speaking at a function to celebrate five years of the RTI Act. Other speakers included Julio Ribeiro, and now retired state chief information commissioner Dr Suresh Joshi. The celebration took place at the Indian Merchant Chambers (IMC) and...
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