Between the technical rigour and finality of CAG audit and people's airing of grievances, a new audit system that subscribes to, and strengthens, open government may be waiting to be born. The new system is envisaged as one where the CAG’s formal audit includes the relatively new concept of community-led social audit . The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) presents an opportunity to do this. Traditionally, auditing is a...
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Binayak Sen Support Fund open to public
Members of the Christian Medical College Alumni Association, who have helped to support social activist Binayak Sen's family and his legal battles through private contributions, now propose to open up the fund to donations from the public. The Binayak Sen Support Fund was set up in May 2007 through initial contributions by 10 alumni “to provide assistance, as necessary, for the safety and liberty of Dr. Binayak Sen, and for the...
More »Sedition decision ‘misuse’ of laws
I am very upset about the court decision in Chhattisgarh about Binayak Sen. It is a huge perversion of our system of justice, and particularly of the laws concerning sedition. It’s not at all clear, to start with, that the thing he has been exactly accused of — of passing letters — has been really proved beyond doubt. Secondly, even if this were correct, that doesn’t amount to sedition. He hasn’t...
More »Dharmapuri PEW helps bootleggers turn a new leaf by R Arivanantham
Two hundred families from 40 ‘Black Spot' villages, that were notorious for brewing hooch and selling in Dharmapuri District have been rehabilitated by the Prohibition and Enforcement Wing (PEW), thanks to the efforts of Additional Superintendent of Police P. Saravanan. R. Sudhakar, District Superintendent of Police told The Hindu that the district police identified these villages and conducted social awareness campaigns at regular intervals. As part of this initiative, the PEW wing...
More »Money for nothing. And misery for free by Rohini Mohan
IT WAS a windfall five years ago that taught Panchali Satyavva the power of a lie. It happened one Monday afternoon in Someshwar village of Nizamabad district in Andhra Pradesh. It was raining in sheets and she had just placed a bucket under the steady trickle of water from the roof of her hut. Two men were at her door, holding umbrellas and offering her an unsolicited Rs. 5,000. They...
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