-PTI The Government on Wednesday said it has "no" plans to conduct a detailed evaluation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V Narayanasamy said that a study was conducted in 2008-09 to assess the key issues and constraints in implementation of the RTI Act. Based on the report, the minister said, "The Government has taken initiatives...

A campaign to help the elderly spend the evening of their lives with dignity and without want is being launched by Pension Parishad with a dharna in Delhi from May 7th to May 11th 2012 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. The idea is straight and simple, and is something whose time has come. Just read on and reach the venue for more information and interviews with the campaign participants.   “One...

-The Times of India   Bihar seems to be becoming a Pensioners' paradise with the state spending the highest amount on account of Pension among all states, 48% of its revenue earnings. Along with some north-eastern states, Bihar's expenditure on Pension, administrative services (salaries etc) and interest payments adds up to more than its total revenue generation.  According to budget documents of state governments, Bihar is the only one among non-special category states...

When India embarked on its “unique ID” project in the fall of 2010, pledging to distribute unique 12-digit numbers to 1.2 billion people, the hope was that hundreds of millions of Indians who don’t have a passport, driver’s license or other credible identity document would get one – and with it, a ticket to essential government and private sector services. A new survey led by Arun Sundararajan, a professor at New...

To many Indians, the word “politician” invariably invokes familiar scenes of din and disruption in Parliament, if not the taint of corruption. Yet from time to time, a little-noticed — and perhaps rather quaint — parliamentary tradition tends to suggest that at least some of India’s MPs may have a place in their heart for issues concerning the ordinary citizen. Of the 79 private members’ bills listed today in the Lok Sabha’s...