-The Telegraph New Delhi: Advocates of transparency have a new worry amid the euphoria over the privacy verdict - the possibility of information commissioners citing the new fundamental right to deny answers under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. As it is, RTI activists have had to contend with commissioners using Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act to refuse information on the premise that it infringes upon a person's privacy. The section...
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Cattle trade ban rules were not placed before Parliament -Krishnadas Rajagopal
-The Hindu In reply to RTI plea, Lok Sabha Secretariat says Centre did not follow procedure. A Lok Sabha Secretariat reply to a Right To Information request made by one of the petitioners who has challenged the cattle slaughter ban rules in the Supreme Court reveals that the rules were never laid before the Parliament, which the government should have done before implementing them. Having triggered an avalanche of litigation across the country,...
More »Muddled nutrition in Delhi ends up in PIL
-CivilSocietyOnline.com New Delhi: An estimated 50 percent of children in the National Capital Territory of Delhi are undernourished, but a State Food Commission that can address the problem has not been set up. The Food Security Act of 2013 stipulates the setting up of food commissions in the states to monitor mid-day meals served in government schools and supplementary nutrition provided in anganwadis, which are mother and child care centres. It has been...
More »Is the RTI law in danger of losing its might? -Poulomi Banerjee
-Hindustan Times The RTI Act of 2005 made the government more accountable. But a new set of proposed rules may weaken the law and make it difficult and risky for people to access information In 2015, activist Lokesh Batra filed a Right To Information (RTI) application with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) seeking details about the appointment of the next Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). But the DoPT refused to...
More »In putting Nikhil Dey in jail, we are crucifying our best -Shailesh Gandhi
-Governance Now ‘They can’t convict Kalmadi, Vadra, Lalit Modi, Mallya; but will convict transparency advocates’ I am reminded of what my teacher had told me in school: “When a society wishes to blatantly show how unjust it can be, it will crucify the best.” On June 13 when I heard about the conviction of four of the nation’s transparency champions who have given their entire lives to promoting transparency and empowering the...
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