-Mumbai Mirror On July 22, the Lok Sabha passed a set of amendments to the Right to Information Act, which – if enacted into law – will have dangerous consequences for open and transparent governance. Notably, these amendments were first proposed towards the fag end of the previous NDA government’s tenure, but in the face of sustained protests, were not carried forward. Nevertheless, one of the first legislative acts of the government...
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The tremor of unwelcome amendments to the RTI Act -Aruna Roy & Nikhil Dey
-The Hindu The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill is a twin attack on accountability and the idea of federalism “Amendments” have haunted the Right to Information (RTI) community ever since the RTI Act came into effect almost 14 years ago. Rarely has a law been so stoutly defended by activists. It is not possible to pass a perfect law. But it was a popular opinion strongly held by most RTI activists that...
More »Civil society activists condemn the statement by Rural Development Minister in Parliament on discontinuation of MGNREGA scheme
-Press statement by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha dated 19 July, 2019 While it is heartening that a discussion on rural development lasted for nine hours in Parliament with important issues on MGNREGA being raised, we are deeply disappointed at the statement of the Rural Development Minister that not only displays a lack of understanding of the program but also betrays the clear anti-poor sentiment of this government. On the central issue of inadequate...
More »Atrocities Against dalits Continue Unabated in Gujarat -Bharathy Singaravel
-Newsclick.in In 2019, the Gujarat government revealed a 32% rise in crimes against Scheduled Castes between 2013 and 2017, and a 55% rise in crimes against Scheduled Tribes for the same period. On May 22, Jignesh Mevani, MLA from Vadgam, Gujarat, released a strongly worded statement on his Facebook page, following the killing of Rajesh Sondarva. Sondarva was a 21-year-old dalit murdered by upper caste Hindu men in Rajkot, Gujarat. Earlier in...
More »CIC tells RBI to give defaulters names to RTI applicant
-Deccan Chronicle The RTI Act provides for a two-stage dispute resolution process. Mumbai: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the RBI to disclose the list of big loan defaulters it had sent to various banks for resolution. The CIC's directive came while deciding on a plea by an RTI activist, who had based the Right to Information application on media reports that RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya in a lecture in 2017...
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