-TheWire.in The government, as part of an ongoing survey to identify them, has left out almost half the people who said they were engaged in manual cleaning work. In India, there are more than 40,000 people working as manual scavengers in 84 districts of 14 states. This information was revealed after a survey begun by the Central government in 2018 for their identification. This number is three times that of the number...
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Incisive interventions that blunt the RTI's edge -Suhrith Parthasarathy
-The Hindu With the kernel of the Information Act under threat, the independence of the information commission is in peril When we describe India as a democracy what do we really mean? Are we referring merely to a system of popular sovereignty founded in universal adult franchise? Or are we suggesting something more — perhaps an assurance, grounded in the Constitution, of a set of rights, of the rights, among others, to...
More »Central RTI Law to Now Apply to J&K and Ladakh -Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar
-TheWire.in Jammu and Kashmir has till now been covered by the J&K RTI Act – a more powerful law than the central one in some respects. New Delhi: Following the revoking of Article 370 and ending of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, the central Right to Information Act, 2005 would now apply to the two new union territories of J&K and Ladakh that will be carved out. Jammu and Kashmir has till now...
More »RTI amendment: Usurping powers from Legislature and States -M Sridhar Acharyulu
-Down to Earth The National Democratic Alliance government's move is an assault on the independence of information commissioners, writes former Central Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu Alas! I thought the Narendra Modi government is strong enough after its re-election. But now it is scared of the Right to Information (RTI) and the Chief Information Commission (CIC), as if they are monsters who can harm the power of the powerful rulers. The Information Commissioner...
More »RTI amendment: Centre has no authority to make law on states -M Sridhar Acharyulu
-Down to Earth The amendment to the RTI Act does not deserve the assent of the President, writes former Central Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu in the second of this two-part series The Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions told the House that Parliament's competence to enact a law to give effect to the citizens' right to obtain information is located in Entry 97 of the Union List...
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