Nikhil Dey, convener of the National Campaign for People's Right to Information, has been in the forefront of the RTI movement. He speaks to  Bharat Dogra  about the achievements of the RTI and the challenges ahead: How do you assess the overall impact of the RTI? Sceptics say corruption is increasing more than even before. What I can assure them is corruption would have been much higher without the RTI. In schemes...

Despite crores being spent in the name of conservation and Project Tiger, illegal mining activity is back in full gear in the protected area of Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary. "Rampant mining is going on at Jaisinghpura, Malana, Goverdhanpura, Palpura and Jamwa Ramgarh, in spite of the Supreme Court's 1991 order banning mining in the area. After SC's order, 215 mines were closed. But recently, some of them have restarted activity in the...

The APIC has introduced several innovative measures including 'File Tracking System', Status of Appeal through SMS, Video-Conferencing facility through which it could hear appeals and dispose of cases from across the state, Hussain said. Special Chief Secretary (General Administration Department) Minnie Mathew said the government has already directed the District Collectors and Superintendents of Police in the state to look into the cases of harassment of RTI activists, if any....

The one-man inquiry commission constituted under Justice Iqbal Singh, a former Judge of the Punjab and Haryana HC, to probe the Mirchpur incident of April 1this year in which two Dalits were burnt alive and 18 houses of the community were torched, has got an extension of six months. Sources said the notification pertaining to the extension of the commission’s tenure would be issued shortly. The commission, constituted on June...

The youth will not take no for an answer. Five years on, the RTI comes of age. At four feet something, Santosh’s energy belies her petite frame. The school dropout was introduced to RTI through activist Arvind Kejriwal, and now, at Parivartan’s Sundar Nagri office, she holds fort, helping others acquire everything from BPL and ration cards to school admissions through RTI. Threats and Attacks by local authorities who dubbed her...