Community Leadership Programme

In the year 1992, the Parliament passed two key Constitutional Amendment Acts, 73rd and 74th that effected decentralization of governance to the local level, that of villages and cities respectively. While the 73rd Amendment Act institutionalized citizen participation in rural areas through Gram Sabhas, the 74 th does not address a similar space for the urban citizenry. Janaagraha aims at filling this gap through the platform of Area Sabha, which is defined as the group of all registered voters living within the jurisdiction of a polling booth.

Area Sabha creates a political space and connects to the city's decision making process, deepening the platforrm for citizen participation below the level of a ward. Municipalities are divided into constituencies called wards; Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) has a hundred wards. It is also proposed that each ward have a Ward Committee that comprises of the representatives of all Area Sabhas in the ward, who are selected/elected by the members of the respective Area Sabha. The Ward Committee shall be chaired by the ward councillor, who will represent it at the Municipal council. This way, an average voter becomes a part of the city's decision making process which was hitherto denied to him.

Janaagraha has advocated the institutionalisation of citizen participation with the Government of India, which has resulted in the inclusion of Community Participation Law as one of the mandatory reforms under JNNURM. Now the onus will be on State Governments to pass the law within the Mission period 2006-2011.