Unhappy with law ministry's disclosure of then chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami's "confidential" complaint against his colleague Navin Chawla, the President's secretary had asked the personnel department to frame procedural guidelines and make requisite changes in the law to avoid such "embarrassing" situations. The department of personnel and training, after receiving a three-page communication from President's secretary Christy Fernandez in March, issued directions to all government departments to make public records...

A landmark ruling by the Central Information Commission raises hopes that government functioning will become more transparent. ON August 30, a three-member Bench of the Central Information Commission (CIC), New Delhi, gave a ruling that has the potential to bring under public scrutiny crucial aspects of the functioning of the Central and State governments that have remained hidden from the public glare all these years. The Bench, comprising Chief Information...

According to the HRD ministry, the new set of Sanskriti schools  across the country being planned by the department of personnel & training (DoPT) will have to give 25% reservation to children of economically weaker sections as per the Right to Education Act. Earlier, DoPT had sought the opinion of the HRD ministry on the proposed Sanskriti schools. The ministry has urged DoPT to spell out if Sanskriti schools are specified...

The RTI Act needs strengthening, but activists oppose the government's proposals as they suspect its intentions. AN Act is usually amended to address certain concerns that come up during its implementation. However, the beneficiaries of the Right to Information Act, 2005, oppose any amendment to the Act, because they suspect the government's intentions. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) admitted to considering 11 amendments to the Act in a letter to...

The method of selection of Information Commissioners cries out for reform. FOR the Right to Information (RTI) Act to be successful, it is not enough if it has provisions that encourage information-sharing and punish those Information Officers who deny requests for information on specious grounds. Activists have found that while deciding appeal cases the degree of commitment of Information Commissioners to the Act's objectives matters more than the supportive provisions of...