Women and child development minister Krishna Tirath has ordered her ministry to initiate fresh consultations on a proposed law criminalising sexual harassment at the workplace, effectively delaying further a bill ready for cabinet approval. Tirath has asked the ministry to hold fresh consultations with women’s rights groups and lawyers who have raised concerns that the bill does not adequately protect victims of sexual harassment, The Telegraph has learnt. The minister’s...

The Union Minister for Personnel Prithviraj Chavan said that there was no question of bringing in an amendment in the Right to Information Act without consulting the people. Speaking to a delegation of National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) at his office on Monday, Mr Chavan assured the delegates that a final decision on the nature of amendments has not been taken as yet. Chavan said that he...

Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Prithviraj Chavan, is understood to have assured the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) that no changes would be made in the RTI Act without wider consultations. According to an NCPRI release, the Minister assured their delegation that the government would not take a final decision on the proposed changes in the RTI Act before “consulting the people.”...

After strong protest from civil society organisations, the government has admitted that it is considering amending the Right to Information (RTI) Act. It has, however, assured activists that a transparent and consultative process will be adopted before any action is taken, and the amendments will not be persevered with if activist groups are able to convince the government that they are either unnecessary or counterproductive. These assurances notwithstanding, it is...

A known enemy might be better than over-zealous friends. The high-pressure campaign by civil society activists for the candidature of former cop Kiran Bedi as chief information commissioner may hurt her prospects with government wary of the fierce lobbying. The aggressive campaign to rope in activists and celebrities to back Bedi is seen as a bid to force the government's hand over the appointment which is to be finalised through...