Case Study : Why transparency is needed in welfare schemes and Role of Civil Society in it. CM of Meghalaya announced relief for workers affected by COVID 19 lockdown. Announcement was made without necessary details about norms, eligibility etc. People did not know whether their application for support had been successful or not. Although payments …
Case Study : Meghalaya CM COVID Relief Scheme failure – UPSC GS2 Read More »
An open and transparent government that also respects every citizen’s right to privacy is not a contradiction rather a fundamental requirement of good governance in the country. Context: Bombay High Court order directed government to take down address of Right to Information (RTI) applicant from its website, leading to the debate of personal privacy vs …
Transparency Vs Privacy of Individuals – UPSC GS2 Read More »
Context A High Level Committee (HLC) chaired by a retired judge of the Gauhati High Court was constituted by the Home Ministry through a gazette notification. Its mandate was to recommend measures to implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord and define “Assamese People”. The HLC finalised its report by mid-February 2020 and submitted it …
Right to Know Vs Official Secrets Act – UPSC GS2 Read More »
Issues with Transparent Governance in India 1) Electoral bond They were introduced in February 2017— they allowed anonymous donations to political parties and, therefore, protected the privacy of the donors. The Election Commission of India (ECI) criticized the opacity of this financial mechanism. The ECI told the government that this arrangement would prevent the state …
Mumbai police are investigating the alleged manipulation of Television Rating Points (TRP) by an extremely right-wing opinionated news reporter What is TRP? In simple terms, anyone who watches television for more than a minute is considered a viewer. The TRP or Target Rating Point is the metric used by the marketing and advertising agencies to …
SC Judgement: The Right to Information Act confers on ordinary citizens the ‘priceless right’ to demand information even in matters affecting national security and relations with a foreign state. Judgement was delivered in Rafale case by Justice K.M. Joseph. Justice Joseph’s judgment countered the claim made by the government for privilege over Rafale purchase documents …
RTI : RTI Act Vs Official Secrets Law – UPSC GS2 Read More »
Facts: Only 36 per cent in rural and 38 per cent urban areas have heard of the RTI Act 45% public information officers did not received any training What is RTI: 10 years of the Act Many significant disclosures like – 2G, CWG Became very popular among educated and city dwellers Led to the demand …
Facts: Currently, there are four vacancies in the Central Information Commission, though more than 23,500 appeals and complaints are pending. The Andhra Pradesh Commission is completely non-functional as not a single information commissioner has been appointed. The Maharashtra Commission which has a backlog of more than 40,000 appeals and complaints, has four vacancies. The Kerala …
In news: The Delhi High Court has set aside the Central Information Commission order declaring Ministers as “public authorities” and answerable under the Right to Information law. The High Court’s order came on the Centre’s appeal against the CIC order. Background: 2014: An application filed by a Maharashtra resident who wanted to know how to get an appointment with …
Chief Information Commissioner of India Rajiv Mathur called for immediate implementation of the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, the Lokpal Act and the Lokayukta Act, which would strengthen governance systems further. Issue: Although progressive legislations such as the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, the Lokpal Act and the Lokayukta Act have been enacted, the rules for these Acts have not been framed. As …