Bottlenecks at every stage in the implementation of MGNREGA in Atra village in Chhattisgarh are making the villagers disillusioned. “If payment is unreliable, the poorest and the most vulnerable opt out of the system...” On a rainy day in September, Bir Singh Malekar, 45, rues his decision to stay back in Atra village in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district this summer, instead of leaving in search of work. “I usually go to Chennai between...

The RTI website of the State has been awarded as the best user-friendly website in the Country. A high profile event for choosing best website in the country conducted by India eGov 2.0 in New Delhi on October 28 choose States RTI Central Mechanism (RTI CMM) as the best user-friendly website and conferred India eGov 2.0 Awards-2010. The States RTI website is now connecting as many as 1800 offices and providing...

The Commonwealth Games corruption probe could lead to raids on the homes and offices of some of the organisers to find missing documents, sources said. Agencies investigating wrongdoing in the Games preparations have complained that key files and documents are untraceable or unavailable at the offices of the government departments that carried out the work. Enforcement Directorate sources said they might raid some of the key people behind the organisation of the...

How would you rate the functioning of the RTI Act five years into its enactment? It has been a mixed experience. It is encouraging that we have one of the best laws in the world but its shoddy implementation is taking the sheen away. The two nerve centers of RTI are simplifying the process of filing an application and making the functioning of the Commission effective. The posts of Information Commissioner...

The Jammu and Kashmir Youth Congress Committee today held a demonstration against the alleged failure of the state government in effectively implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Led by party vice-president R S Pathania, over 700 activists raised slogans and held demonstrations at the Deputy Commissioner's office in Samba. Pathania claimed the Centre's flagship job-guarantee scheme has failed to achieve the desired results in the trouble-torn state...