home > Focus Area : Governance

The idea of governance is central to the experience of living in a society.Our surroundings which include natural and man-made factors affect our wellbeing and impact our lives. Good governance is about continuous management of these elements in our surrounding to offer good quality of life for all. Layman often associates issues of governance with politicians and bureaucrats only and individual responsibility of citizens is not taken into consideration. However the polity is shifting from representative democracy to a participative democracy. This shift means greater opportunities for the common man to participate in matters concerning individual and society at large. In the urban areas the immediate surroundings of a person is the city, therefore good governance would mean better administration of the city through people\'s participation. Janwani approaches governance issues in a holistic manner adopting bottom-up approach. We believe that people\'s participation in governing cities is of utmost importance as they are the ultimate beneficiaries of the development process. However, for people to participate in a meaningful way they have to be well-informed and knowledgeable about the processes of governance. Thus information generation, dissemination and simplification is central to our approach. Simultaneously different stakeholders should come together on common platforms for sharing of ideas and mobilization of available resources. When general public is organized and empowered to engage in governing their city they act as a pressure group for policy changes.