If access to information is the first step towards empowerment, then it is important to make Internet accessibility a human right because a lot of useful information, particularly relating to government schemes, is either unpublished or inaccessible by other means for most citizens The government’s approach towards universal Internet access is marred by dichotomy. While the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, calls Internet one of the most effective means of...

The joint drafting committee on the Lokpal bill made some headway on Saturday on contentious procedures for sanction for prosecution of public servants. A broad consensus emerged over the need to review existing laws that have been criticized for shielding corrupt officials. Civil society sources on the panel said the proposed Lokpal may not require permission for prosecution while investigating offenses with amendments being considered to section 19 of the prevention...

Itself the outcome of a bottom-up movement, the Jan Lokpal bill ironically proposes a centralised framework against graft. Without checks and balances. There was never any doubt that India needs a strong Lokpal Act. The protest has paved the way for its enactment. With the exultation over the anti-corruption campaign’s ‘victory’ quieting down, it’s time to take stock. Nuanced arguments—and indeed substance—have to recover lost ground to take the discourse...

After the Lokpal bill, Anna Hazare will turn his attention to the “right to recall a corporator” he had been advocating, supporters say. Hazare has been saying that the provision for “right to recall a corporator” should be made in the state government’s Area Sabha Act now under review. Vijay Kumbhar, president of the Surajya Sangharsh Samiti, said Hazare and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal are members of the special study group...

It's Sharad Pawar's old habit of indulging in corruption. Yes, I am levelling charges. Take me to court, I will prove the allegations," said activist Anna Hazare in New Delhi, as he began his fast unto death strike against corruption on Monday. Hazare's is campaigning for a compressive Lok Pal Bill to give wider powers to the ombudsman to check corruption attracted a huge crowd of over 3,000 people at Jantar...