In keeping with the government's promise to bring Lokpal legislation to Parliament in the monsoon session, the Cabinet will consider a bill to set up the anti-Corruption ombudsman at its meeting on Thursday. The draft bill, framed by five ministers, who were on the joint drafting committee with the Anna Hazare-led group of representatives, does not contain the references to the prime minister, higher judiciary and actions of MPs in Parliament...

New-look programme to be rolled out in 2,000 most backward blocks within a year As part of a coordinated and aligned initiative, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, a re-energised Union Rural Development Ministry and the Planning Commission are working in tandem to make up for the time and money lost due to the underperformance in UPA-II on the government's flagship programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Even as...

Days before the draft Lokpal bill is expected to be put before the Union Cabinet for its consideration, the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) headed by Aruna Roy has begun lobbying for its version of the anti-Corruption legislation. Roy and her colleagues met with law minister and government representative on the joint drafting panel Salman Khursheed on Tuesday and are likely to meet HRD minister Kapil Sibal...

According to a research undertaken by a PhD student, the RTI Act has not helped improve governance. Saharsh Yadav (27), who is working on a thesis on Implementation and Impact of Right to Information Act on governance, said the outcome of the Act was not as expected. "We are yet to taste the fruits of this act," said Yadav, who has completed his master's degree on public administration from Vikram University,...

Right to Information activists across the state held a protest, on Sunday, against the rise in attack on them and repeated attempts to weaken their movement. Activists also declared that they would soon form a union or association to ensure protection of those who have been fighting against Corruption in the system using RTI. Organised by the NGO CRANTI (Citizens Resource and Actions Initiatives), the dharna was held at Sardarbaug in Lal...