New Delhi: The second edition of the Janaagraha City Governance Awards will be held on Tuesday, January 12, 202103.00 to 07.00 PM (Virtual) andit will be presided over by Honorable Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri.

The Awards have been instituted in the memory of Mr V Ramachandran, a doyen of decentralization, to recognize ground-breaking work in decentralization in urban context by institutions across government.  Formerly known as V Ramachandran Awards for Excellence in Urban Decentralization, the awards celebrate initiatives and efforts based on five broad categories- Best State, Best Municipality, Best Civic Agency, Best State Election Commission and Best State Financial Commission. One winner and two runners-up will be awarded under each category, and selected initiatives will receive honorable mention.

The winners have been chosen by an eminent jury comprising Priyank Kharge and Arvind Bellad (Members of Legislative Assembly, Karnataka), Amitabh Kant (NITI Aayog), Ashutosh Varshney (Brown University), Niranjan Rajadhyaksha (columnist and economist, IDFC Institute), Sanjeev Chopra IAS (Director, LBSNAA), Yamini Aiyar (Centre for Policy Research) and SK Das IAS Retd. (Chair of Jury, Member of Janaagraha’s Governing Board).

The award ceremony will be followed by panel discussions on empowerment of city governments, learning from successful models of decentralization and the role of women leaders as change agents in cities. The panels consist of senior Indian and foreign politicians at the center, state and city levels, senior bureaucrats, and inspirational women leaders.

MISSION STATEMENT

More than two decades have passed since the enactment of the 74th Constitution Amendment Act, but decentralization continues to be a crucial governance reform agenda in India. This is more so in the urban context given how Panchayati Raj has marched far ahead of Nagara Raj, and the rapid urbanization that India is witnessing, with 50% of India’s population expected to be in urban areas by 2050.