Anna Hazare's campaign may lead to a new Lokpal Bill, but it has legitimised middle-class vigilantism and other kinds of civil society mobilisation. NOW that Anna Hazare has declared victory, it is time to take stock of one of the most powerful recent mobilisations of people in India, focussed on influencing poLICy or lawmaking processes. The victory, however, is largely symboLIC. The original demand of the movement, carefully built around Hazare's...
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CAG raps MHA for avoidable spend
-The Times of India Picking holes in some decisions made by the home ministry, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has pointed out that the ministry had incurred an "avoidable expenditure" of more than Rs 9 crore by flying heLICopters from Delhi to the North-East and Jammu and Kashmir to aid its troops deployed in operations. Besides, it has also rapped the ministry and its poLICe wireless wing for incurring an...
More »Jan Lokpal Bill and Parliament by Shanti Bhushan
Is the Bill within the legislative competence of Parliament? Yes. All provisions in Anna Hazare's Jan Lokpal Bill are within the legislative competence of Parliament, including the provisions relating to Lokayuktas in the States. Some confusion is being spread in the media that Parliament cannot enact all the provisions of the Jan Lokpal Bill, particularly those relating to the Lokayuktas in the States, a law for which will have to be...
More »Anna Effect: Prior CAG clearance sought for Rs 30k crore housing project for the paramilitary forces by Deepshikha Sikarwar
In the backdrop of the Comptroller and Auditor General's scathing reports on award of 2G telecom LICences and projects related to the Commonwealth Games, an extra-cautious Ministry of Home Affairs is seeking the audit of the processes of the proposed Rs 30,000-crore housing project for the paramilitary forces by the country's statutory auditor. This would be the first instance of pre-award scrutiny by the CAG. "We have received the reference,"...
More »Scanning 2.4 Billion Eyes, India Tries to Connect Poor to Growth by Lydia Polgreen
Ankaji Bhai Gangar, a 49-year-old subsistence farmer, stood in line in this remote village until, for the first time in his life, he squinted into the soft glow of a computer screen. His name, year of birth and address were recorded. A worker guided Mr. Gangar’s rough fingers to the glowing green surface of a scanner to record his fingerprints. He peered into an iris scanner shaped like binoculars that...
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