Open Forum

By Venkatesh Nayak* On 04 August, 2016, the Hon’ble Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka certified their RTI Bill as having been “duly passed by Parliament”. With this certification, the RTI Bill has become law in Sri Lanka. Unlike many countries that have adopted the Westminster form of government, a Bill duly enacted by Sri Lanka’s Parliament does not have to go to the Head of the State for his/her assent, to become law. A certification on the Bill appended by the Speaker under Article 79 of the Constitution that it has been duly enacted by Parliament (unicameral or one House) is enough to make it law. The President’s certification is required only when a Bill adopted by Parliament has also received people’s approval through a referendum. So Sri Lanka’s RTI Act (see attachment) has entered the statute book on 04 August, 2016. Only Bhutan, in South Asia, remains without a national level RTI law despite guaranteeing RTI as a fundamental right to its citizens. Salient features of Sri

By Gagan Sethi*  It has been about 40 years that I have been witnessing, engaging, intervening in cases of crass violence on the Dalit community in Gujarat. People say nothing has changed, the situation has remained the same, it is still like the old times. I have participated in hundreds of training programmes with Dalit men and women, helping them learn law, build confidence in their identity, cajole them to stand up to their rights, fight the fear instilled in them by their upper caste school teachers as also by cops ranging from low-level police constables to PSIs serving local police stations near villages. Many of our programmes collectively help them look at self- employment opportunities, so that they are not dependent on feudal landlords’ wages. These programmes have also helped them build cooperatives of land, forestry, salt, fish, vegetables, so that they are economically better off. They have helped them trained for jobs in banks, service industry and compete in examinati