The number of Right to Information (RTI) applications received by the Pune Municipal Corporation has increased from 6,793 in 2009 to 10,552 in 2010, in spite of the civic body providing information to citizens every Monday from 3 to 5 pm. While civic officials cited the increased awareness about the RTI Act among citizens as reason for the rising number of applications, activists said that the Monday scheme has not been...

The Department of Personnel and Training has rejected most of the changes suggested in the government's Draft Rules for the Right to Information Act by the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC). The NAC, therefore, decided on Friday to have a face-to-face consultation with the DoPT before finalising its recommendations on the subject. The NAC had specifically objected to two proposed changes– abating of the proceedings before the Information Commission if...

Activists and researchers today raised doubts over security of data being collected for the Unique Identification (UID)project and its public utility. "The personal information being collected for the UID would be stored in a central database system without assuring protection against data theft. There could be a possibility of profiling, tracking and surveillance with the help of the information," Usha Ramanathan, an independent law researcher said today at a press conference. There...

Heading for further confrontation with Prime Minister’s Office, Sonia Gandhi headed National Advisory Council will soon issue a paper to counter the PM’s Expert Committee’s claim that its proposed National Food Security law cannot be implemented. In its first indication of the confrontation, the NAC on Friday issued a draft of the proposed food security law as per its recommendations to the government in October 2010 to cover 75 % of...

Even though the Central Government agreed to link the wages paid under MG-NREGA to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), it shied away from paying statutory minimum wages in various states of India. Their logic for this: Lack of clarity on who will bear the extra financial burden—the Centre or the states? A letter from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to UPA and NAC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi dated 31...