A few weeks ago, Vinay wrote about the growing business opportunities in the e-governance sector. An exciting recent development in this area has been the announcement by the Government of India of knowledge kiosks being set up in Panchayats. The project is sponsored by the E-governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions (e-PRIs) and is projected to [...]

Here is the daily dose of headlines: Water supply: In Chennai, city officials have made it mandatory that buildings connected to the main water supply install meters to measure consumption. Government transparency: The Central Information Commission (CIC) will now require political parties to make their income tax returns available to the public. Sending the exact [...]

Google.org is supporting a study focused on the Right to Information Act as part of their Inform and Empower Initiative. From their blog: To help us better understand how to make the Right to Information (RTI) more effective in India, we are delighted that Shekhar Singh who is an active member of the people’s movement [...]

Gender Budgeting: In order to promote the concept of gender budgeting at all levels of governance, the Ministry of Women and Child Development is developing manuals on this topic. This is part of a larger movement to address gender specific barriers. Education: Proctor & Gamble’s global philanthropy program, “Live, Learn, and Thrive” has partnered with [...]

In a recent post, Vinay talked about the Health Ministry’s agenda to protect people living with HIV/AIDS from discrimination through the appointment of district-level health ombudspersons, who would take on the responsibilty of “curb[ing] the growing discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients.”  In an attempt to expand on this effort, the Health Ministry aims to pass an [...]

The Center for Media Studies recently published a Transparency Review through its Journal of Transparency Studies, which gauges the overall impact of the Indian Right to Information Act (RTI). The review is critical in its assessment of the effectiveness and extent of impact of the RTI Act. A summary of the concerns cited, courtesy of [...]