-ThePrint.in Chief Information Commission and its state counterparts have an unwritten rule about not penalising erring public information officers who discourage rti applicants. Fifteen years after it came into effect, promising a new era in transparency in government functioning, India’s Right to Information, or rti, Act is dying a slow but certain death, with the executive letting go of no chance to hasten the process. According to an estimate, between 40 and 60...

-The Hindu Proper implementation of the Right to Information Act is more crucial now than ever before Right to Information (rti) applications seeking information pertaining to the PM CARES Fund have been stonewalled. No information exists on the official website of the Fund regarding the amount collected, names of donors, expenditure incurred, or details of beneficiaries. The trust deed of the fund chaired by the Prime Minister is not available for public...

-TheWire.in An rti query shows that the mid-day meal allowance for Tripura primary school students is less than Rs 5 a day. New Delhi: The BJP government in Tripura, led by Biplab Kumar Deb, has not provided food to any child under the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme while the schools remained closed during the lockdown, according to documents accessed by The Wire under the Right to Information. Given that a lack of proper...

-Hindustan Times Responses have been elusive on critical issues, including health care infra, PM Cares fund, schemes, and migrants In the lethal jaws of a pandemic, when lives and livelihoods are at stake, the information law of a democracy is expected to live up to its responsibilities — to empower the citizens and to ensure transparency and accountability. Free flow of information is an essential component of crisis management. And this is...

-The Hindu This is an extreme underestimation, going by the other assessments made by Central and State governments, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s estimate of 8 crore stranded migrants. The Chief Labour Commissioner’s (CLC) office has counted over 26 lakh migrant workers stranded across the country, of which 10% are in relief camps or shelter homes, while 43% are in situ at workplaces and 46% are in other clusters. This is an extreme...