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...

The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) and civil society groups are clearly not happy with the government's draft of the Lokpal Bill, intended to check corruption in high places. But a public consultation, a day ahead of the discussions that the NAC's Working Group on Transparency and Accountability is due to have with government representatives and others, demonstrated how difficult it will be to get a consensus on a...

The UPA government's flagship programme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has found itself in the eye of storm again. This time in a panchayat of the coastal district of Kendrapada thanks to an RTI activist. RTI activist Niladri Bhusan Tripathy of Kendrapada recently sent a petition to the executive officer of Golarhat panchayat in Derabishi block of the district seeking information on the project expenditure under the MGNERGA...