On his visit to the city, activist-turned-central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi interacted with Right to Information activists. DNA caught up with him to speak about the landmark RTI Act, which recently completed five years. What did you gather from your meeting with the activists? I feel that not many people are getting involved with the Act. There is an increase in usage but the rate has slowed. As far as depth is...
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Amendments proposed, RTI rules likely to be more people-friendly by Anindo Dey
The withdrawal on the limitation of number of words when asking for information, restructuring of fees, halting provisions to withdraw an appeal under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, are some of the amendments in the RTI rules that have been adopted by the Working Group on Transparency, Accountability and Governance under the National Advisory Council (NAC). These amendments are likely to be placed before a full house of the...
More »MP sets new RTI rules, making it tougher to get information
It took years of struggle, harassment, sweat and courage to get the Right to Information Act (2005) in place. Now, it looks like the government is hell bent on frustrating the purpose of this legislation. Yesterday, the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly secretariat notified new rules that bar the transfer of applications to multiple authorities, limit the subjects and seeks additional fees for first appeals under the Right to Information (RTI) Act....
More »Choice challenged by V Venkatesan
The appointment of P.J. Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner comes under Supreme Court scrutiny.ON November 8, a Supreme Court Bench comprising Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar asked the Attorney-General, G.E. Vahanvati, whether Central Vigilance Commissioner P.J. Thomas was an “outstanding civil servant” as required by the Central Vigilance Commission Act.The Bench was yet to get a firm reply to the question on December...
More »25 years of Save Narmada Movement
Has Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), one of India’s best-known peoples’ movements, run out of steam? Or is it still relevant in its new avatar as a force to reckon with? After all, the NBA has failed to achieve its primary goal of blocking big dams on Narmada, including the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat. The short answer to the question of NBA’s achievement is that it has forced a paradigm...
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