Advocating larger consultations on the Lokpal Bill, National Advisory Council (NAC) members Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander on Tuesday said there was need for wider and more geographically spread discussion than had been done before. The statement came on a day when social activist Anna Hazare went on fast in support of a stringent Lokpal Bill. The NAC working group on transparency, accountability and governance headed by Aruna Roy, which met...

Right to Information Act (RTI) activists have planned a state-wide agitation to protest against the politicisation of the State Information Commission. A meeting of RTI activists held in the city on Sunday had agreed on an action plan on this score. Accordingly, the Save RTI Campaign would begin with a state-wide rally to sensitise people. Activists have alleged politicians were treating the RTI as a government department dividing information commissioners’ positions...

NAC Working Group says it is difficult to have robust grievance redress system in Lokpal Bill Even as social activist Anna Hazare embarked on a hunger strike here on Tuesday on the issue of corruption, ignoring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's appeal, the Congress described his action as “premature,” saying a government panel was examining the contours of the proposed Lokpal Bill. Simultaneously, the National Advisory Council's Working Group on Transparency and Accountability,...

Support came in from all sections of society here on Tuesday for Anna Hazare who is on an indefinite hunger strike in New Delhi for the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill. Social activists, organisations, business groups, students, housewives and people from all walks of society expressed solidarity by participating in various events organised for the day. ‘India Against Corruption' facilitated a day-long protest at Azad Maidan, which saw a...

National Advisory Council starts discussions on Lokpal Bill The Prime Minister's Office (PMO), late on Monday evening, issued an appeal to noted social worker Anna Hazare to abandon the hunger strike he had announced he would resort to, starting Tuesday, to force the government to accept his version of the Lokpal Bill. The appeal came a few hours after the National Advisory Council (NAC)'s Working Group on Transparency and Accountability met civil...