-TheWire.in The budget does little for the most vulnerable populations such as women working in the informal sector or their young children. Just by looking at the numbers, the Budget for health seems promising. The total allocation for the department of health and family welfare (HFW) has increased by about 16%, which could be seen as a substantial hike considering there was hardly any year-on-year expansion during the previous term of this...

-The Telegraph Protest over alleged 'procrastination, silence and inaction' of the poll panel during Lok Sabha elections New Delhi: Over 145 retired civil service officers, military veterans and renowned academics have come together to question the “procrastination, silence and inaction” that characterised the Election Commission’s response to issues thrown up during the recent general election. “The 2019 General Elections appear to have been one of the least free and fair elections that the...

-The Telegraph Figures in May take the total amount of money invested in this opaque source of funding since January to Rs 4,794 crore Electoral bonds accounting for the maximum amount of political donations in India in May were sold in Calcutta, according to information accessed by a citizen through the Right to Information route. Of the bonds worth Rs 822 crore that were sold in select outlets of the State Bank of...

-The Indian Express Because democracy demands more than the counting of votes. The excitements of the recent general elections are over and the results have been finalised. The totality of the lessons from the elections will, of course, take a long time to emerge with full clarity, but a few simple thoughts about the organisation and use of our Electoral system seem immediate. From the British, India has inherited a system of...

-Economic and Political Weekly The introduction of Electoral bonds is a retrograde measure that radically alters the transparency regime of Electoral funding. By obscuring the identities of a bond’s purchaser and recipient from everyone but the State Bank of India, they give an unfair advantage to the party in power at the centre, undermine the Election Commission’s oversight role, and deprive the voters of their right to determine if the ruling...