-The Hindu In a democracy, people participate politically not only during but between elections We are witnessing unprecedented public protests in India. Thousands continue to assemble on the streets to demand that the government rethink the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens. Such public protests are the hallmark of a free, democratic society, whose logic demands that the voice of the people be heard by those in power and...

-The Hindu Rue the use of unaccounted money in next month’s Assembly elections New Delhi: Activists working for electoral reforms said they were disappointed on Monday when the Supreme Court declined to stay the electoral bond scheme of the government, saying that the anonymous donations to political parties through these bonds could continue for the Delhi Assembly elections next month. A founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which had filed a...

-Down to Earth Without empowering women in farming by recognising them as farmers and giving them land rights, agriculture can’t be sustained and so can’t the economy In Maharashtra’s 2019 Assembly elections, the Vidarbha constituencies presented interesting trends. The region is important politically not just for the stalwarts who contest from there, but also for the development issues it represents. More than three lakh farmers have committed suicide in India between 1991 and...

-Moneylife.in More and more big donors of political parties, including corporates, are using the electoral bond (EB) route for making large-sized donations due to the anonymity that provides to the donors. In fact, the annual audit reports for 2018-19 of seven political parties as published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) shows that they have received more than 50% of their donations through electoral bonds, reveals an analysis by Ventakesh...

-Moneylife.in In a historic decision, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the government to reveal names of entities that have requested secrecy of donors identities in the electoral bond scheme. Coming down heavily on the central public information officers (CPIOs) of the department of economic affairs (DEA), department of financial services (DFS), department of revenue (DR), and Election Commission of India (ECI), the central information commissioner, Suresh Chandra issued show cause...