It needs pensive reflection to understand how an organisation whose name is perhaps the most widely recognised public sector brand across the length and breadth of India could become the target of so much instant anger and contempt in the highest legislative forum of the republic. Krishna Kumar (anhsirk.kumar@gmail.com) teaches education at Delhi University. The cyclone that hit Parliament on 11 and 14 May over the so-called cartoon controversy indicates, among other...

Should the applicant and the Public Information Officer follow the amended rules of the state government or abide by the National RTI Act? There’s a lot of conflict, say experts The Maharashtra government’s amended RTI (Right to Information) rules are in straight conflict with that of the national RTI Act. This has led to a cloud of confusion amongst RTI applicants and Public Information Officers (PIOs), say RTI experts. One wonders...

In an order that could have far-reaching implications, the Odisha State Information Commission has directed the state government to furnish information on top government officials facing corruption charges. The state transparency watchdog’s order last month came on a Hindustan Times petition. The government, which was told to make the information public as a part of self-disclosure under the Right to Information Act within a month (by the last week of May),...

-Deccan Herald The files relating to framing of rules for empanelment of officers to the post of additional secretary and secretary at the Centre cannot be disclosed as these are Cabinet papers exempt from disclosure under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the government has maintained. This stand of the government was reiterated in a letter to the Central Information Commission (CIC) by the Cabinet secretariat’s under secretary. The government decided to approach...

Institutions the bill proposes to set up are not adequately independent of the government The government is reported to be making efforts to seek a consensus amongst its allies and the opposition parties on the Lokpal Bill that is awaiting approval of the Rajya Sabha. People’s movements and some of the main opposition parties have objected to various provisions of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011, as passed in the winter...