-TheWire.in While the revenue deficit is estimated to increase in the Union Budget in comparison to the interim one, the fiscal deficit shows a decline thanks to the increase in capital receipts especially through disinvestment. A comparison between the Interim Budget (IB) presented on February 1, 2019, and the full Union Budget (FB) presented before parliament on July for the current fiscal year (2019-20) throws up some intriguing questions. While most commentators have...
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To defend Modi govt's RTI Act changes, BJP released a 'factsheet'. It doesn't have much facts -Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri
-ThePrint.in Modi government’s proposed amendments to one of India’s most powerful laws will reduce autonomous information commissions to 'caged parrots'. India’s Right to Information Act is under attack. Surreptitiously, and without any public consultation, the Narendra Modi government introduced a bill in Parliament that aims to undermine the independence of information commissions – the final adjudicators under the RTI law. The bill was passed on 22 July by the Lok Sabha, where...
More »50 People Died Cleaning Sewers in the First Six Months of 2019
-TheWire.in This number only accounts for deaths in eight states. New Delhi: Data collated by the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) reveals that at least 50 persons have died cleaning sewers in the first six months of 2019 alone. According to a report in the Indian Express, the figure in question, by the NCSK’s own admission, is an underestimation as it only accounts for the number of deaths caused by cleaning sewers...
More »'Amendments to RTI Act must be rejected' -Gautam Bhatia
-Mumbai Mirror On July 22, the Lok Sabha passed a set of amendments to the Right to Information Act, which – if enacted into law – will have dangerous consequences for open and transparent governance. Notably, these amendments were first proposed towards the fag end of the previous NDA government’s tenure, but in the face of sustained protests, were not carried forward. Nevertheless, one of the first legislative acts of the government...
More »CAG demonstrates how govt relies on off-budget resources to fund deficit - Dinesh Narayanan
-The Economic Times India’s deficit numbers have come under lens as the govt is increasingly depending on off-budget borrowings. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said that the central government’s key deficit figures may be considerably higher than those stated in the union budget. In a presentation to the 15th Finance Commission (FFC) on July 8, three days after the July 5 budget, CAG has asked whether the extra-budgetary resources accounted for...
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