The present NDA government led by the BJP at the Centre came to power in 2014 on the planks of development and anti-corruption. However, contrary to PM Narendra Modi's slogan of 'Na Khaunga, Na Khaane Doonga' (meaning ‘would not take bribes, nor would let anyone accept bribe’), a new report by the Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies (CMS) shows that almost three-fourth of Indian households think that the level of...
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Telangana second worst performer in graft fight -Coreena Suares
-Deccan Chronicle In the area of citizen activism to curb corruption chart, Telangana state stands fifth. Hyderabad: The Center for Media Studies (CMS) has ranked Telangana state as the second worst performer in the fight against corruption. Tamil Nadu tops the list, followed by Punjab. Andhra Pradesh placed fourth and Gujarat fifth. The list marks poor performers in terms of curbing corruption in availing public services. According to the CMS report, the percentage...
More »Whistleblowers act needed to protect RTI users: Aruna Roy
-PTI Aruna Roy also feels that there is still a need to see the RTI as a larger democratic and people's constitutional tool to make power truthful and accountable and put pressure on the political establishment, which it cannot ignore or distort. New Delhi: There is a necessity for a whistleblowers act to protect RTI users as the system has “strategised to stall” free flow of information to disempower and stop such...
More »Secularism at risk as RTI Act weakens, says Aruna Roy
-The Hindu ‘Information Commissioners are not being appointed’ Hyderabad: Releasing her RTI Story Power to The People in the city, activist Aruna Roy, who led the movement for getting the legislation in place, said citizens were moving towards a more challenging and non-transparent environment. “This government has consolidated opaqueness. It has systematically weakened the RTI Act by granting exemptions to CBI and other agencies on security grounds. Electoral bonds are a case in...
More »Improving social audits -Suchi Pande & Rakesh R Dubbudu
-The Hindu Telangana’s experience is instructive The institutionalisation of “social audits” to ensure implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been challenging. Since being included in the 2005 Act at the behest of social movements, social audits have been ineffective in most parts of the country due to government indifference. So far, 26 States have created social audit units (SAUs), but the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG’s) detailed guidelines...
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