-The Indian Express Researcher Meenal Rege has returned a cheque for Rs 1,000 to the office of the Pune bench of State Information Commission (SIC). This is the second time she is doing so. Rege says the cheque, sent to her by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) as a compensation on the SIC's order after she was denied information under the Right to Information Act, 2005, had "added insult to my...
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Cost of keeping Hindi alive: Rs 349 crore in 3 years-Neha Shukla
-The Times of India LUCKNOW: The government has spent crores on promoting Hindi in the country and abroad in recent years. A recent RTI query sent to the department of language (DOL) has revealed that Rs 348.90 crore was allocated between 2009 and 2012 to develop and promote the language. The DOL's reply to the RTI query justifies the largesse, saying that the money has been well spent. Anticipating the question why...
More »From transparency to accountability-Nikhil Dey and Anjali Bhardwaj
-The Indian Express With the Union cabinet having approved the Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 (hereafter referred to as the GR bill), Parliament has an opportunity to enact a law that would give citizens a way in which to hold government functionaries accountable. An effective GR act has the potential to transform the relationship between an ordinary Indian...
More »UIDAI mum on Aadhaar cards for Prime Minister, Sonia
-The Times of India HYDERABAD: A recent RTI query to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for information on whether India's 'top brass' possessed Aadhaar cards, has come back without any response. The RTI query was filed by city activist Rakesh Reddy. While Reddy, under the Act, demanded to know if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani, deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia...
More »Govt refuses info on Kasab's mercy plea -Himanshi Dhawan
-The Times of India Government cited the Constitution to deny information on the Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab's mercy petition. The ministry of home affairs rejected an RTI application filed by activist Venkatesh Nayak saying it was "privileged information" under article 74(2) of the Constitution. The Rashtrapati Bhawan went a step further to say that the information is not held in a "subject-wise manner." Nayak had in January sought information for...
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