The method of selection of Information Commissioners cries out for reform. FOR the Right to Information (RTI) Act to be successful, it is not enough if it has provisions that encourage information-sharing and punish those Information Officers who deny requests for information on specious grounds. Activists have found that while deciding appeal cases the degree of commitment of Information Commissioners to the Act's objectives matters more than the supportive provisions of...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Reluctant migrants by Mahim Pratap Singh
Bolangir district in Orissa, facing drought conditions since 1965, sees an annual mass migration of farmers to other States in search of work. SURESH GOHIR of Bhotapada village in the backward Bolangir district of Orissa consumed pesticide two years ago after his paddy crop failed. He survived the suicide attempt but found life doubly difficult as debt had mounted. Suresh was forced to migrate to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in search of...
More »We'll wait and talk, say ICSE schools
The Management Association of ICSE Schools on Thursday decided to wait and discuss the Right to Education Act Bill with the state government, before approaching court on its implementation. After a meeting with all ICSE schools on Thursday, Mohan Manghnani, president, Association of ICSE Schools in Karnataka, told TOI that they had decided to approach the Supreme Court only as the last resort. "The association will wait for the state...
More »Anti-Vedanta MP once wanted alumina company in Niyamgiri by Priscilla Jebaraj
Today, he is known as a champion of tribal rights and a leader in the fight against Vedanta's proposal to mine bauxite in Niyamgiri. But 14 years ago, Bhakta Charan Das, Congress MP from Kalahandi sang a different tune. “The Government of India and the Orissa Government should take keen interest to set up at least a large alumina plant because we have got a heavy deposit of bauxite in Niyamgiri...
More »1000 girls’ schools for backward belts by Basant Kumar Mohanty
The Centre plans to open over 1,000 residential schools for girls in backward and remote areas as part of its plan to universalise education. The National Sample Survey has found out that over 81 lakh children aged 6 to 13 years remain out of school and that most of them are girls. The human resource development ministry has told the finance ministry it wants to set up 1,073 new Kasturba Gandhi Balika...
More »