• Key Facts

• Farmers' suicides

• Rural distress

• Debt Trap

• Unemployment

• Migration

• GENDER

• Displacement

• Right to Food  

• Right to Work (MG-NREGA)

• Social Audit

• Right to Information

• Right to Education

• Forest and Tribal Rights

• Policy/ Action so far

• Poverty and inequality

• Hunger Overview

• Malnutrition

• HDI Overview

• Education  

• Public Health

• Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)

• PDS/ Ration/ Food Security  

• MDGs

• Water and Sanitation

• Impact on Agriculture

• Time Bomb Ticking

• Social Justice

• Access to Justice

• Human Rights

• Corruption

• General Insecurity

• Disaster & Relief

Laws for citizens, and by them too -Ruchi Gupta and Nikhil Dey

e can be little argument that debates about legislation in the public domain are not only inherently more democratic but have also led to more informed, equitable and robust legislative measures. The Right to Information law, for instance, benefited from over a decade of people's dialogues and contributions in different parts of the country. The RTI campaign "model law" was used as an advocacy benchmark which served as a basis for the law th

Age of graft -CP Chandrasekhar

ks, the greater the evidence of corruption. A more encouraging reason for the spate of revelations of corruption is increased access to information. Not only has civil society activism yielded a Right to Information Act that is being exploited to garner information that puts errant officials under scrutiny, but statutory bodies have also played a role. Obvious examples are the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, which ha

RTI applicant told to collect info personally from sarpanch -Bharat Khanna

-The Hindustan Times Mansa: In a bizarre reply under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, officials of the zila parishad had asked an RTI applicant, Hardev Singh, a resident of Dhingar village, to collect information from his village sarpanch personally. Besides, the authorities have also violated RTI norms by sending a copy of the application to the village sarpanch, who is supposed to submit the information sought by the applicant to the h

UPA's 'Bharat smiling' feebly -Subodh Varma

15% of the works taken up were completed in 2012-13. Lack of funding, corruption allegations, shortage of manpower to administer the scheme and delays in payments are major factors.   Right to Information In 2006, the UPA government brought in the Right to Information so that citizens can get information about how their government functions. It has become quite popular, and in fact dang

Co-operatives not binding under RTI Act-Neha Pandey Deoras

ss Standard Bodies established under the Constitution fall under RTI and hence do co-operatives, but more clarity is needed Bangalore: The recent news about co-operatives coming under the Right to Information (RTI) Act saw many excited activist and individuals. Till now, Maharashtra is the only state to have ratified the 97th Constitutional Amendment that came about in March 2012. Orissa is learnt to have notified the amendment while Gujar

PMO put pressure on MoEF to ease coal mining rules, reveals RTI query-Bahar Dutt

-CNN-IBN New Delhi: Just two days after the removal of Ashwani Kumar as Law Minister over the coal scam, there seems to be more trouble for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. A Right to Information application shows that it was the Prime Minister's Office that put pressure on the Environment Ministry to ease environmental rules to allow expansion in coal mining projects. In a recent landmark judgement, the Supreme Court has upheld the rights

Jairam writes to Nitish Kumar on murder of RTI activists

ffected activists and their families, recovery of embezzled funds and initiation of criminal proceedings against perpetrators. In a statement issued on Friday, the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) called for implementation of Mr. Ramesh's suggestions. ‘I hope Bihar government will employ strict measures against corruption and crime' The two whistleblowers had helped expose irregularities in rural develop

Between mass hunger and bursting granaries-Agrima Bhasin

ot;right to food" should be read together with "entitlements" concerning livelihood security, equitable rights over resources such as land, water and forests, sustainable food systems, Right to Information, education and health care, social inclusion and non-discrimination. Over the years, it has publicly shared and structured this premise through legal and street advocacy, grassroots engagement and policy advocacy. In fact, the un

'Ensure speedy trial of tribals accused of being Naxals'

Sentence those who are guilty and release the innocents, while compensating them for the damage they have undergone," he said. Agnivesh said as per the replies he has received after filing Right to Information on the imprisonment of adivasis, 1,266 tribals were arrested after being accused of involving in Maoist activities in Naxal-hit states of Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Bihar. The district of Dantewara in Chhattisgarh alone has 3

Amartya Sen urges Parliament to pass food security bill

ility. "The stalemate must be resolved whatever it takes - even an extension of the Budget session of Parliament if need be," he said. Nikhil Dey of National Campaign for People's Right to Information stressed that the Grievance Redressal Bill was important for a successful implementation of all social programmes, and that all political parties support it. He said that people "cannot wait" any longer for this bill, which