-Newsclick.in With the increasing political climate of stifled dialogue and dissent, a denial of information sought in the legitimate interest of the public, imposing fines, and subsequent ambiguity in the face of procedural safeguards is not just disheartening, but also dangerous. It is the year 2022, almost 17 years since the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) has been passed. Albeit, in a functional democracy, the emerging field realities would have...
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Why Republic Day is celebrated -Rajeev Bhargava
-The Hindu India is a republic only when its laws result from free public discussion and pass open scrutiny The Preamble to the Constitution declares that India is a ‘Republic’. This self-description must be taken seriously: being a republic is integral to India’s political identity. Moreover, this is not just a descriptive but also a strong, ethical, normative claim. Being republican is an ideal to which we are meant to consistently aspire,...
More »Define ‘anti-national attitude’: Parliamentary panel
-PTI/ The Hindu The observation was made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor A parliamentary panel on Wednesday asked the information and broadcasting Ministry to properly define the term “anti-national attitude” used in the Cable Network Rules, 2014, saying it may be the cause of unnecessary harassment of private channels. In its 27th report on 'Ethical Standards in Media Coverage', the Parliamentary Standing...
More »The need for a proper Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy -Arun PS
-The Hindu How many bills have been tabled without prior discussions? What needs to be done to improve public consultation in policymaking? The story so far: The Union Government has listed 29 Bills (26 new and three pending) to be tabled in the winter session of Parliament. In 2014, the Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy was adopted, mandating a host of rules, including that whenever the Government makes any law, it must place a...
More »How a History of Broken Promises Has Let Down India's Scheduled Areas -CR Bijoy
-TheWire.in Only six states have the rules necessary to operationalise the PESA Act's provisions – yet the myth that PESA is alive and kicking prevails. A quarter-century ago, on December 24, 1996, the Parliament enacted a law unlike any other in the country. This was India’s first law to actually recognise people’s powers, in the form of the gram sabha at the hamlet level. This path-breaking legislation was the Provisions of the...
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