Civil society pressure may have forced the government to keep proposed changes in the Right To Information (RTI) Act in abeyance but the information officers are quietly implementing them. The government has proposed restrictions on RTI applications that only one issue can be raised in one application and it should not be more than 250 words. But, it had to withdraw amendments following objection by RTI proponents such as National Advisory...
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New methods needed to answer old controversy in poverty measurement-Sreelatha Menon & Indivjal Dhasmana
The professional divide on Tendulkar's estimation goes a long way back A committee is being set up to devise yet another methodology to estimate poverty in India. The step has led to some unhappiness among economists and experts that it amounts to junking the services and competence of an expert like the late Suresh Tendulkar, whose study is sought to be replaced. Under pressure from all sides over its estimate of people...
More »Indirect ways to kill RTI by Chetan Chauhan
-The Hindustan Times Civil society pressure may have forced the government to keep proposed changes in the Right To Information (RTI) Act in abeyance but the information officers are quietly implementing them. The government has proposed restrictions on RTI applications that only one issue can be raised in one application and it should not be more than 250 words. But, it had to withdraw amendments following objection by RTI proponents such as...
More »Kerosene subsidy damper
-The Telegraph Bengal has rejected a central proposal for direct subsidies to kerosene consumers, fearing the users could spend the funds on other items and prompt Delhi to allot Bengal less of the fuel. “This system is not going to help the consumers. We cannot accept it,” state food and civil supplies minister Jyotipriya Mullick said. Under the scheme, bank accounts would be opened for the consumers buying kerosene through the PDS. The...
More »A Two-tier System by Sukanta Chaudhuri
When the fledgling Indian government drafted its higher education policy after Independence, it formed two separate tiers for teaching and research: colleges and universities in one, exclusive research establishments in the other. The intention was of the noblest, to deploy our best talent exclusively to create an indigenous knowledge pool; in particular, to provide research input for the nation’s development. Sixty years down the line, the outcome has patently failed those...
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