-The Hindu There is no Lokpal yet, but the Centre’s Grievance Redressal Bill promises to cut through bureaucracy and corruption that plague government services. The citizen is hoping for a repeat of the RTI Act story. A year after the UPA came to power in 2004, it brought the Right to Information Act, ushering in a revolution: citizens, for the first time, could access information under the control of public authorities, whether...
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Jostling for justice -Suvojit Bagchi
-The Hindu Hundreds of undertrials languish in overcrowded south Chhattisgarh prisons even as their trial proceeds sluggishly, says an RTI reply With most information regarding prisons closely guarded in the country, in conflict zones — some north-eastern States, Kashmir or Chhattisgarh — it is even more so. The only information about prisons that percolates to public space is about how inmates are becoming master painters, singers or dance drama designers. While those...
More »From transparency to accountability-Nikhil Dey and Anjali Bhardwaj
-The Indian Express With the Union cabinet having approved the Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 (hereafter referred to as the GR bill), Parliament has an opportunity to enact a law that would give citizens a way in which to hold government functionaries accountable. An effective GR act has the potential to transform the relationship between an ordinary Indian...
More »In Rajasthan, 284 kids rescued from trafficking in 24 hours
-The Times of India JAIPUR: Nearly 284 children were rescued and 55 child traffickers were arrested from various West Bengal-bound trains in the past 24 hours in Bharatpur and Jaipur. These kids were being transported to Bihar and Bengal and as many as 19 out of the 284 were from Jaipur itself. The Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (RSCPCR) officials— with the help of the Jaipur and Bharatpur collectors...
More »Information logjam in state, RTI in peril-Chhandosree
-The Telegraph Ranchi: The State Information Commission, mandated to ensure enactment of a sunshine law that aims to empower citizens by allowing access to crucial official documents and decisions has stopped work in Jharkhand as it has no officer to hear cases. Headed by chief information commissioner Justice (retired) D.K.Sinha, the commission is meant to have 10 information commissioners (IC) to hear cases filed under the Right to Information Act. But, all posts...
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