Aruna Roy-led National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) has criticized the exclusion of lower bureaucracy from the draft Lokpal bill terming it as a loss for the common man. It has also demanded that the CBI should be brought out of the administrative control of the government for it to be effective in tackling corruption. The activists have echoed concerns already raised by Team Anna which has demanded...

Up to three-fourths of villagers and half of city dwellers will be entitled to subsidised food grains under a new bill, with the Centre refusing to budge on the volume of grain entitlement and continuing with upper limits for beneficiaries. The National Food Security Bill, redrafted on the basis of feedback from states and civil society groups, will soon be sent to the cabinet so that it can be introduced in...

Bhukan Singh is a small, shy figure, with a nervous smile - he does not look like a hero. But standing in a field near his home, he recalls the day last March when his fight for transparency and justice in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand nearly resulted in his death. "In today's India speaking the truth is not easy," Mr Singh, 44, says wistfully, remembering how, on that March day...

Has the time come for an effective Citizens Right to Grievance Redress Bill? Will the government enact a legislation that will truly empower ordinary people? Civil society needs to debate the provisions of the draft bill that is released for public discussion and feedback The Citizens Right to Grievance Redress Bill, 2011 seeks to “lay down an obligation upon every public authority to publish citizens charter stating therein the time within...

The contentious revised Sports Development Bill has got a fresh thrust with the Aruna Roy-led civil society group, the National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI), throwing its weight behind the move to bring about transparency and accountability in the running of sports in the country. The NCPRI statement signed by Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan along with others like Ms. Roy, Nikhil Dey, Shekhar Singh and Anjali Bharadwaj has...