-The Times of India It's often argued that criminalization of politics merely reflects the increasing criminalization of society. However, an analysis of data on Lok Sabha members facing criminal charges and official figures on crime in India show that the proportion of people facing such charges is way higher among Lok Sabha MPs than in the population as a whole. In fact, for a range of serious charges, the rate among...
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Over 75% of donations to parties from unknown sources -Himanshi Dhawan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Over 75% of the funding received by political parties is from unknown donors. This flies in the face of claims made by parties that details of their financial statements are in the public domain. According to data analyzed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the total funds received by six national political parties between 2004-2005 and 2011-2012 was Rs 4,895.96 crore of which only 8.9%...
More »No safety net, parties stay under RTI ambit -Himanshi Dhawan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With Parliament failing to provide a safety net, political parties now have to comply with the Central Information Commission (CIC) order bringing them under the Right To Information law as not doing so exposes them to the risk of legal action, including summons to party presidents. The commission on July 28 received a complaint of "non-compliance" from activist S C Agrawal who, along with Association...
More »Move to amend RTI fires citizen protest
The UPA government’s proposed bid to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act, in order to avoid compliance with the June 3 CIC order bringing records of political parties within RTI’s ambit, is sparking widespread citizen criticism and mobilisation. (Pl read the links below for more info on RTI and the bid to amend it) An online petition put out by the National Campaign for the People’s Right to Information has...
More »Myths about RTI & political parties-Jagdeep S Chhokar
-DNA With the union cabinet approving a proposal to amend the RTI Act to keep political parties out of its purview, the controversy about six national political parties having been declared "public authorities" by the CIC has taken a rather serious turn. Political parties, acting though Parliament, are on the verge of undoing a law that Parliament itself had given to the nation. The argument that the law should apply to...
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