-The Hindu Telangana’s experience is instructive The institutionalisation of “social audits” to ensure implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been challenging. Since being included in the 2005 Act at the behest of social movements, social audits have been ineffective in most parts of the country due to government indifference. So far, 26 States have created social audit units (SAUs), but the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG’s) detailed guidelines...

-The Hindu Not conducted hearings: RTI reply The State commission to ensure delivery of public services has been inactive since its inception in 2015, an RTI reply by the West Bengal government has revealed. The West Bengal Right to Public Service Commission has not conducted any hearing since its inception and is unable to provide any information about it through RTI, an activist claimed. The RTI queries were filed by Kolkata-based Biswanath Goswami. The...

-The Hindu New Delhi: Reena, a single mother, has been unable to acquire Scheduled Caste certificates for her children as her RTI (Right to Information) application filed in 2016, still remains unanswered. “I had applied for Scheduled Caste certificates for my children but was told by the Revenue Department that the caste certificate of the father needs to be provided. In 2016, I filed the RTI application seeking information on the documents...

-The Hindu There are 119 laws that discriminate against persons affected by leprosy: plea The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and all States to remove references to leprosy as a disability from statute books, saying leprosy is curable and patients should not be victims of social stigma. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, heading a three-judge Bench, said references to leprosy as a disability in the written laws amounted to “statutory...

-The Indian Express An ordinance to overturn the Supreme Court order on SC/ST Atrocities Act is much needed The controversial judgment on the SC/ST Atrocities Act has yet again brought to the foreground the faultlines of our democracy. A cornered government, anticipating political repercussions, has moved the apex court for a review of the judgment. In its written submissions, it has stated that the judgment has created disharmony in society and violated...