-The Hindustan Times New Delhi: As a headless Central Information Commission (CIC) controversially celebrates nine years of the transparency law behind closed doors, there are indications that the CIC chief's absence has already dented the watchdog's autonomy. Being without a chief has placed the commission on a weak legal footing. According to documents accessed under the RTI law, the government has taken control over the CIC's purse strings and placed them in...

-PTI NEW DELHI: With over 1.98 lakh RTI petitions remain pending in state commissions in last seven year, activists have stressed on the need to make the process to seek information under the Act easy and use it as a tool to bring transparency in development process. Please click here to read more. ...

Documents availed through RTI reveals that the Rural Development minister Shri Nitin Gadkari has ordered to bring drastic changes in the schedule of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which includes changing the labour to material ratio and restricting the implementation of MGNREGA in 1/3rd of backward blocks in India (please click here to access a note on labour-material ratio prepared by People's Action for Employment Guarantee-PAEG). The MoRD has notified the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Overriding objections raised by senior officials, rural development minister Nitin Gadkari has ordered far-reaching changes in the job guarantee scheme (MGNREGS) which has provided seasonal work to one in three rural households in the last eight years. Documents obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by activists show file notings by a senior official in the ministry arguing that Gadkari's announcements run contrary to the...

-DNA Now only 51% funds meant for the job scheme will be spent on employment, while the rest will be spent on purchasing material Incorporating major changes in UPA government's flagship scheme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) quietly, the NDA government has converted it to an asset-driven programme rather than just generating jobs, which according to the officials in rural development ministry is going to affect 5 crore...