The biggest challenge is to promote 'institutional transparency', newly-appointed chief information commissioner (CIC) A N Tiwari said on Thursday. Tiwari, who will be sworn in as head of the central information commission by President Pratibha Patil on Friday, said that the Right to Information (RTI) should not be the only recourse for transparency and that public authorities should proactively disclose information. "Section 19 and 25 of the RTI, which empower the Commission...

As the Prime Minister hands out the first official AADHAAR numbers in the tribal district of Nandurbar on Wednesday, civil society activists in the capital are questioning the very basis of the ambitious Unique Identification (UID) scheme. “Even basic procedures have not been followed before launching such a massive project,” said Usha Ramanathan, an expert in law, poverty and civil rights. “The people of India, as well as Parliamentarians need to...

Five years after the enactment of the Right to Information Act, awareness of the law, its provisions and potential appears to be very low. Marking the completion of five years, in September 2010, of the enactment of the Right to Information Act, the central information commission (CIC) held the fifth annual convention on “RTI: Challenges and Opportunities,” in New Delhi on September 13 and 14. It was largely a gathering of...

A recent order by the central information commissioner (CIC) might bring some relief to people from the economically weaker sections of society, as well as to activists working for such causes. In an order dated September 17, central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi ordered the directorate of health services, government of Delhi, to put up details of the beneficiaries from the economically weaker section (EWS) of society, who are supposed to get...

Next month, the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, one of the most powerful laws enacted in independent India, completes half a decade in the cause of transparent and accountable administration. It enables, on demand, access to information the State and Central governments have in their possession. It empowers Indian citizens to ask for and get specific information, subject to certain norms, from a Public Authority, “thus making its functionaries...