NGOs differ on Jan Lokpal, pick on Team Anna’s shortcomings Conflict Amongst NGOs? * Great response to Anna seen as success of civil society * NGOs agree on wiping off corruption in government, not on solutions * They celebrate the middle class finding voice; but mourn lack of reach among villagers * Divergence in views seen as healthy for debate; onus on govt to take final call *** First the good news:...
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A roller-coaster 12 days and “victory” for both sides by Neena Vyas
Congress negotiators and Anna Hazare's associates repeatedly shifted the goalposts through the four-and-half-month stand-off on the shape and structure of the Lokpal Bill. The Anna group flagged as many as 40 issues during the many rounds of discussions in the joint Lokpal drafting committee set up after Mr. Hazare ended his April 2011 fast in Jantar Mantar here. Of these, 34 were more or less resolved by the time negotiations broke...
More »Day after, Singhvi says: God, Devil lie in details... task challenging by DK Singh
A day after Parliament passed a resolution conveying the “sense of the House” on the Lokpal Bill, the Parliamentary Standing Committee which is examining the Bill said today that it has a “challenging task” ahead. Asked what the Parliament’s resolution meant for the Lokpal Bill, which is under consideration of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, and Law & Justice, its chairman, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, told The Indian Express:...
More »Seshan suggests setting up of anti-graft body
-The Hindu “Its members should not be from the government” With the impasse between the civil society and the government on the structure of the Lokpal Bill continuing, the former Chief Election Commissioner, T.N. Seshan, announced his version of the Bill on Friday, which provides for establishing an anti-graft body similar to the Election Commission. “The issue of corruption is important to the nation and this is an accepted view on all sides,”...
More »Wombs for rent by Anupama Katakam
The absence of a law regulating surrogacy makes India, especially Anand, a top destination for couples from abroad. UNTIL about 2008, the future looked bleak for Sharadaben Solanki. A landless daily-wage worker in Anand, Gujarat, she earned a paltry Rs.600 a month. Her husband earned an equal amount working as a construction labourer. Together the couple supported three children and their parents. That was when she heard from Maganbhai, the owner of...
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