-The Telegraph New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat has told The Telegraph that it was "very difficult to fathom" whether the poll panel would be able to hold elections to the Lok Sabha and 11 Assemblies simultaneously. "It is feasible to conduct the Lok Sabha elections along with elections to five Assemblies whose terms expire around the same time. If one or two more states are added, it can be delivered....
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EC seeks to delink voter list from NRC
-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Election Commission has said exclusion from the draft National Register of Citizens in Assam doesn't automatically cause disenfranchisement. "The Election Commission of India voter enrolment exercise is independent of the NRC, though they are working in sync," Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat said on Wednesday. The commission will go by three criteria - a voter person needs to be a citizen of India, he or she should be...
More »RTI bill on hold, changes sneak in
-The Telegraph New Delhi: Forced to defer introduction of the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2018, in the face of stiff opposition in Parliament and outside, the Narendra Modi government appears to have brought it into effect without parliamentary approval through an advertisement. On July 26, the department of personnel, public grievances & pensions issued an advertisement for appointment of information commissioners in the Central Information Commission (CIC) that said the "salary,...
More »Muzzling information -Anjali Bhardwaj & Amrita Johri
-The Hindu The RTI Act Amendment Bill must be junked The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, has empowered millions of Indians to question governments and hold public functionaries accountable. Of the nearly six million RTI applications filed every year in the country, a large proportion are by the poorest and the most marginalised who seek information about their basic rights and entitlements, like rations, pensions and health facilities. The use of...
More »The People of India Have Protected Their Right to Information Once Again -M Sridhar Acharyulu
-TheWire.in The Centre's decision to defer the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill 2018 – after protests from the public and the opposition – is temporary good news. Sub-section (5) of Section 13 of the Right to Information Act provided that the salaries and allowance and other terms and conditions of service of the chief information commissioner and information commissioners shall be same as that of the Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners,...
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