Jaguar Land Rover Adds New Retailer Partner In Brookfield, Bengaluru

* Jaguar Land Rover India has appointed Shakti Auto Cars as its new Retailer Partner

* New state-of-the-art 3S (Sales, Service and Spare parts) Retailer facility in prime Brookfield area of Bengaluru is spread over a total area of over 4 180 m2 with an expansive showroom display and a fully equipped service workshop

* This additional JLR facility in Bangalore would provide enhanced access to customers    

* Jaguar Land Rover India distribution network is spread across 28 outlets in 24 major cities across India

Jaguar Land Rover India today announced the appointment of Shakti Auto Cars as its new Retailer Partner in Bengaluru, with Venkatesh Tatuskar as its Director. The new, state-of-the-art 3S facility is located in the upscale Brookfield area of Bengaluru, close to the major IT hub of Whitefield area.

This Retailer facility is spread over 4 180 m2 and is designed to provide the highest quality of sales and after-sales experience for its customers. With a 10 cars display, a wide range of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles can be showcased to discerning customers. An impressive handover bay for delivering vehicles at the showroom allows for a more personalized customer experience. The facility also has an Approved pre-owned car area to cater to the needs of pre-owned customers, while also showcasing a wide range of Jaguar Land Rover branded accessories and merchandise. An integrated service workshop, equipped with 18 service bays with state-of-the-art equipment is manned by a team of highly trained staff to delight customers with an exceptional ownership experience. 

Rohit Suri, President & Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India Ltd (JLRIL), said: “We are delighted to announce that we have partnered with Shakti Auto Cars to service our customers in Bengaluru. With its ultra-modern sales facility, housing sales, service and spares, it provides our customers with an enhanced access and convenience, along with a world class experience of owning a Jaguar Land Rover product in this region.”

Customers can even book their cars by visiting the online booking platform at www.findmeacar.in for Jaguar and www.findmeasuv.in for Land Rover.

For more information on Jaguar and Land Rover product range in India, please visit www.jaguar.in and www.landrover.in

Jaguar Product Portfolio in India

The Jaguar range in India includes XE (starting at ₹ 46.64 Lakh), XF (priced at ₹ 55.67 Lakh), F-PACE (priced at ₹ 66.07 Lakh) and F-TYPE (starting at ₹ 95.12 Lakh). All prices mentioned are ex-showroom prices in India.

Land Rover Product Portfolio in India

The Land Rover range in India includes the Range Rover Evoque (starting at ₹ 59.73 Lakh),  Discovery Sport (starting at ₹ 60.99 Lakh), Range Rover Velar (priced at ₹ 75.28 Lakh),  Discovery (starting at ₹ 75.60 Lakh), New Defender (starting at ₹ 73.98 Lakh) Range Rover Sport (starting at ₹ 89.13 Lakh) and Range Rover (starting at ₹ 201.93 Lakh). All prices mentioned are ex-showroom prices in India.

Jaguar Land Rover Retailer Network in India

Jaguar Land Rover vehicles are available in India in 24 cities, through 28 authorized outlets in Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bengaluru (3), Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi (2), Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Karnal, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mangalore, Mumbai (2), Noida, Pune, Raipur, Surat and Vijayawada.

WFH Culture And Demand For Bigger Homes Drive Popular Trend In Bengaluru - Reveals Magicbricks PropIndex Report Q4

* Real estate market in Bengaluru showed QoQ growth in Q4

* Demand for 3bhks triggered post the lockdown

Post witnessing stunted growth ascribed to a stressed environment due to COVID induced lockdown, the real estate market in Bengaluru is gradually returning to pre-COVID levels primarily driven by growth in demand for bigger homes due to the rise in Work-From-Home (WFH) culture, shows Magicbricks PropIndex report Q4.

As a result of the “Work from Home” culture, consumers were increasingly looking for additional space which resulted in increased demand for 3BHK configuration. The demand has increased from 45% in Q3 2020 to 52% in Q4 2020. The propensity of demand was concentrated mostly in North and South Bengaluru localities such as Whitefield, Sarjapur Road, and Bellary Road which ranked continuously high in terms of searches.

According to PropIndex, in Q4 2020, Bengaluru's residential market continued to show 3.2% QoQ growth in demand, represented by property searches. Supply has also improved by 10.4% QoQ with launch of new projects and improved listings in the secondary market.

It is interesting to note that after price decline in the previous two quarters, due to the festive discount by builders, waiver on stamp duty, and deferred payment plans, under-construction (UC) properties finally showed a marginal 0.4% growth in Q4 2020, while Ready-to-move (RTM) properties in recorded price decline of 0.7% QoQ. According to Magicbricks data, price decline was witnessed in most areas such as Horamavu, Anjanapura, Ramamurthy Nagar, and Attibele within a <INR 5000 per sqft range, suggesting a decline for properties in peripheral areas with less social amenities.

Commenting on the PropIndex report, Sudhir Pai, CEO, Magicbricks, said, “With uncertainties around the economy and jobs now stabilising, we are witnessing signs of growth in the real estate sector as well.  The economy has also stopped shrinking since October 2020 and now we are seeing a V-shaped recovery in the real estate sector. There are predictions of net positive GDP growth for the ‘Oct-Dec 2020’ quarter at 0.1% and rebound growth at 10% for FY 2021-22, making it surpass pre-COVID levels. With impetus from the government in the form of stamp duty cuts in some states and first-home buyer incentives, buyer demand is expected to stay at elevated levels in 2021.”

It was also noteworthy that more consumers were preferring to shift in costlier segments. The search trends of Q4 2020 in Bengaluru has shown an increased preference for properties in the higher price range. The demand for greater than INR7,000 per sqft held a market share of 32% in Q4 2020 as against 27% in Q3 2020.

About Magicbricks: India's no 1 property site

Magicbricks is India’s No.1 property site. With monthly traffic exceeding 20 million visits and with an active base of over 1.4 million+ property listings, Magicbricks provides the largest platform for buyers and sellers of property to connect with each other in a clear, transparent manner. With this in mind, Magicbricks has innovated several product features, content, and research services, which have helped us build the largest audience pool.

Challenges: Do I Need To Repeat The Mistake My Senior Friend Made?

By Awkash Agrawal, Engineering Leader - Product and Platform Engineering, Altimetrik 

Journey of a new bee in corporate

Too many questions but answers were elusive, thus I came up with the strategy of Curiosity, Calibre and Courage. Here order is important and so is the role of mentor or senior friend. Let’s turn towards the organization setting now where a fresher joins a team, he was given a red carpet treatment and welcomed in the team with zeal. Second day in office he was given a software production problem to solve. This guy doesn't know what to do and where to start. He will be fearful about production for his life now. Second scenario, a senior friend of his is assigned this production problem and this guy sitting next to him, just curiously watching all the Greps, Traceroutes and Splunk queries senior friend is firing. He ended his day with his eyes opened but still curious in his mind that one day he will also do this on his own. That is where Curiosity comes into play where you generate enough that person feels intrigue.

After 3 weeks in the system this senior friend turns the table and asks this sophomore (borrowed term) to solve the production problem for himself. This new guy again finds himself in no man's land. Oh my god I have just seen the queries being run and that too at lightning pace, how can I deal with such a big ask from me. The initial approach of this senior friend is flawed because he has not allowed this junior to harden his capabilities and give shock therapy to gauge his calibre. Better be is to have a junior being delegated some queries to run from the second day of his job and let him/her strengthen his capability.

After 6 weeks in the system one fine day this senior friend made a call to this graduate (Borrowed term) saying he is not well today, can you look at this ticket number assigned to me. Oh gosh, another blooper, this guy again caught on the wrong foot. Where to look for the ticket to contact this details, do I have enough info about the ecosystem because till now he was doing all this for me. One more time senior friend has not played his role to a satisfactory level. Better be he should be making his junior courageous in front of him and not on the day when he was not available. He/she should have asked this guy to handle the production tickets from 5th week itself so that he is having enough info and courage under his belt to make an informed decision.

Conclusion

In conclusion keep things in check with balancing 3 Cs to ensure a frictionless pull the plug journey. Too early you will have possible chances of breaking the individual, too late will put one's learning ability and risk taking capability at stake. In the end change should be continuous and not shock therapy based.

Wipro Dec’20 Quarter Results – Strong Broad Based Growth Performance; Margin Surprises Positively

 

Result Summary

·         Wipro reported revenues of US$ 2.1bn, up 3.9%/-1.1% QoQ/YoY (CC 3.4%/-2% QoQ/YoY), in line with our expectations of $ 2.05bn. (TCS Q3FY21 revenues was US$ 5.7bn, 4.1% CC QoQ).

·         Overall EBITM expanded 280bps QoQ at 21.6% and came ahead of our expectations. (TCS Adj. EBITM expanded 40bps QoQ to 26.6%).

·         IT Services EBITM expanded 243bps QoQ on back of revenue acceleration, offshoring (52.7% of revenue vs 50.4% QoQ), and operating efficiencies.

·         Adj. Profits at Rs29.7bn (+20.3% QoQ, 21% YoY), 15% ahead of our expectations.

·         The company announced an interim dividend of Rs1 per share.

·         Company guided Q4 growth to be in the range of 1.5% - 3.5% QoQ to $2,102mn to $2,143mn

·         It signed 12 deals with TCV >US$30mn during Q3 with combined TCV of US$1.2bn

Growth by Verticals (all in constant currency terms)

·         Financial Services:  -2.5%YoY ( V/s -3.3% YoY in Sep’20 quarter)

·         Manufacturing: -2.4%YoY ( V/s -1.5% YoY in Sep’20 quarter)

·         Healthcare: 3.7%YoY( V/s 2.3% YoY in Sep’20 quarter)

·         Communications: -11.4%YoY ( V/s -10.3% YoY in Sep’20 quarter)

·         Energy: -2.6% YoY ( V/s -5.4% YoY in Sep’20 quarter)

·         Consumer Business Unit: -3.6% YoY ( V/s -2.1% YoY in Sep’20 quarter)

·         Technology: 0.6% YoY ( V/s -7.1% YoY in Sep’20 quarter)

Growth by Geographies (all in constant currency terms)

·         US: -3.2% YoY ( V/s -4% YoY in Sep’20 quarter)

·         Europe: 1.4% YoY( V/s -5.7% YoY in Sep’20 quarter)

·         ROW : -2.5% YoY( V/s 2% YoY in Sep’20 quarter)

Manpower details

Total Headcount: 190,308, up  5,065 QoQ

LTM Attrition: 11%, V/s 11% in Sep’20 quarter and 13% in Jun’20 quarter..

Udhyam Learning Foundation Helps Small-Business Owners Reach Pre-Covid Income Levels Via Interest-Free Loans

 

Udhyam Learning Foundation through its vertical Udhyam Vyapaar, is focussed on enabling micro and small-scale entrepreneurs to scale and succeed. They have been helping nano-entrepreneurs or vyapaaris in the city build their business back to pre-Covid income levels and aim to do this by providing interest-free loans and necessary skill-sets and training to over 500 nano-entrepreneurs.

A lot of these vyapaaris were badly hit during the lockdown period and found it difficult to sustain their business due to loan sharks and lack of other monetary aid. Udhyam Vyapaar, therefore, designed a unique model that not only offers monetary support but also enables the vyapaaris to undergo finance and digital lessons post the loan is availed. Creating business plans, managing profit & loss accounts, developing capabilities in marketing decisions and customer services are included in the training curriculum, which enables the vyapaaris to better utilise the funds. Besides, these vyapaaris are also provided with on-demand consulting and a WhatsApp group has been created for them to easily communicate, share their challenges and discuss new business ideas.

A vyapaari is eligible for INR 10,000 collateral-free loan and the repayment model is INR 100 in 100 days. 

Commenting on this initiative, Mr.Mekin Maheshwari, Founder, Udhyam Learning Foundation, says, “A vypaari on an average earns around INR 500 daily and the informal money lenders charge exorbitant interest rates sometimes over 60% p.a. for a loan of 10k. They are unable to get credit from the formal banking system, which requires assets, documents and evidence that they do not have. We envision being able to create models that can be used by NBFCs and banks to lend viably to this neglected segment of entrepreneurs. We hope to dispel myths around exorbitant non-payment by these hard-working entrepreneurs. Our digital training lessons and financial literacy aims to make them ready for the future and more resilient to cope with challenges.”

“We believe in serving, enabling, and creating opportunities for the ‘invisible business owners’ who form a big part of our local market ecosystem.”

So far, Udhyam Vyapaar has been able to raise funds through crowdfunding and corporate donations. Over 70 loans have been sanctioned to more than seven lines of business such as tea shops, ironing/laundry, homepreneurs, fruit/vegetable sellers, and over 61% of small entrepreneurs were able to scale their existing businesses while 39%  kick-started new businesses. ULF, through this initiative, is also working on helping vyapaaris gain access to formal credit and enabling them to get rid of informal money lenders who charge exorbitant interest rates. 

About Udhyam Learning Foundation: 

At Udhyam Learning Foundation, our vision is to co-create a caring world, where people fearlessly pursue their potential. We believe that every person has immense potential and entrepreneurship is a powerful way to channel this potential. Entrepreneurship enables agency and allows an individual to work on his/her strengths while creating value for the world. Udhyam is working to unleash this potential.

About Udhyam Vyapaar:

UdhyamVyapaar: Interventions designed for nano entrepreneurs to scale and succeed that use proven tools of business growth like technology, marketing, finance, & trainings

Goldmedal Electricals Launches Suraksha Scheme For Electricians

Goldmedal Electricals, a leading homegrown fast-moving electrical goods (FMEG) company has officially launched the Goldmedal Suraksha Scheme, a life and health insurance scheme for its stakeholders including dealers, retailers, and electricians. While the economy is on a gradual path to recovery, Goldmedal launched this scheme to upkeep the electrical industry and help out those recovering from the consequences of the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been financially devastating on independent businesses and the self-employed. Goldmedal acknowledged the reality that many of its dealers and a majority of its retailers and electricians have been affected by the early lockdowns and the subsequent slowdowns. With an aim to support them during such dire times, the company announced a first of its kind Suraksha scheme. 

Commenting on the launch of Goldmedal Suraksha Scheme, Mr. Kishan Jain, Director, Goldmedal Electricals says, "Goldmedal has matured as a pan-India brand with the help of our trustworthy dealers, retailers, and the electricians.  The pandemic caused a massive disruption in the lives of many people all over India and affected the standard of living of many of the self-employed in 2020. We are happy to announce the launch of this scheme and look forward to providing compensation to our business allies. Through the Goldmedal Suraksha scheme, they will be able to take care of themselves and their families and get treatment of all health issues in a seamless and hassle-free manner".

The health and life insurance scheme announced by Goldmedal Electricals is a first of its kind in the industry and it was made available across India to all dealers, retailers, and electricians who are connected to Goldmedal through the Dhan Barse app and fulfil some basic criteria. The life and health insurance scheme offers a total cover of Rs. 5 lakhs. This offers a cover-up to a maximum of Rs. 2 lakh for the hospitalization and treatment of all health issues, including those caused by COVID-19. The life insurance cover is Rs. 3 lakh for death caused by COVID-19. The scheme was launched after Diwali and it has received a favourable response from many parts of the country. With all details of the scheme available in the Dhan Barse app itself, affected users can directly contact the insurance company to apply for compensation. So far, over 7,000 people have availed of this scheme. 

In 2019, Goldmedal Electricals launched Dhan Barse app for communicating directly with the company’s channel partners who are spread across the length and breadth of the country. Goldmedal collaborated with Paytm to enable the payment system within the Dhan Barse app. Apart from informing its channel partners about the latest developments and product launches, the app is also an excellent vehicle for the company to provide incentives and support in times such as these. Goldmedal is one of the premier brands in the electrical wiring and modular switches category and invests substantially in creating digital platforms for its various activities. It has already created multiple mobile apps that enable its sales staff as well as dealers to independently carry out their functions with minimum manual or management intervention.

About Goldmedal Electricals

Goldmedal Electricals is a home grown electricals company which was established in the year 1979 with a vision to create electrical switches and accessories that make a positive difference to the lives of consumers. In 1981, Goldmedal entered the Wires and Cables business. In 1995, the company set up a state of the art manufacturing unit in Goregaon, Mumbai for the manufacturing of wires & cables and modular switches.  Alongside Wires and Cables, the company today manufactures a vast range of electrical products including various types of Switches, Home automation systems, Security Systems, Entertainment devices, Door bells, Wires, Cables and more for residential buildings as well as commercial establishments.

Odisha, Gujarat Win Best State & Civic Agency Awards in Janaagraha City Governance Awards

 

* Honourable Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Mr Hardeep Singh Puri conferred the awards in an online award ceremony on January 12, 2021 

Odisha took home the Best State and the Best Civic Agency award, while Gujarat took home the Best State Election Commission and Kerala the Best State Finance Commission. Indore for its PPP Based Integrated Solid Waste Management took home the Best Municipality at Janaagraha City Governance Awards. Meanwhile, Maharashtra won runners-up in four of the five award categories. 

Held in memory of Mr V Ramachandran, a doyen of decentralisation, the awards recognize ground-breaking work in decentralisation in urban context by institutions across government. The awards were conferred in a virtual ceremony by Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Mr Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday, January 12, 2021. 

Delivering the keynote address, Mr Hardeep Singh Puri said that cooperative and competitive federalism are in-built into the design and execution of various schemes and missions. “My Ministry is clear that only a partnership between citizens, municipalities, states and MoHUA can deliver transformative urban change in this country. We have seen such a partnership in action, at scale, across hundreds of cities, in schemes like the Swachh Bharat Mission. In the next phase of urban development, we need to invest in building the capacities of municipalities as institutions of local self-government.  As part of Atmanirbhar Bharat, there is sharp focus on shoring up own revenues of municipalities through property tax and user charge reforms,” he said. 

“An innovative, effective and elegant way to catalyse the change at scale throughout the country is by showcasing best practices, celebrating them and facilitating healthy competition and peer learning,” Mr Puri added. 

Odisha won the Best State for its JAGA Mission under the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Meanwhile, the Best Civic Agency was awarded to Piped Water Supply Scheme for all Urban Households, Public Health Engineering Organisation, Odisha. G Mathivathanan, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Odisha, received the awards for both the categories. 

“Government of Odisha launched the JAGA Mission with a noble and ambitious objective of transforming slums into livable habitats through a combination of land rights and a comprehensive slum improvement programme. Meanwhile, under the Piped Water Supply Scheme, 900 projects across the state with an investment of Rs 4000 crores were rolled out. As a result, nearly 100 per cent pipe water supply in 114 ULBS was possible in 3 years’ time,” G Mathivathanan said. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic has made decentralization no more an option but urgent compulsion and we are happy the Slum Dwellers Associations are emerging as fourth tier of governance structures with urban poor communities actively participating in development and governance process,” G Mathivathanan added. 

Gujarat emerged winners in the Best State Election Commission category for E-Voting. “Gujarat has a strong tradition of strong self-government institutions. Sardar Patel was the President of the Ahmedabad Municipality from 1924 to 1928. Gujarat Panchayat Act was enacted in 1960 and the state has a strong three tier panchayat system. The State Election Commission has adopted technology in a big way. Gujarat was the pioneer in the adoption of the online voting system. The Commission has mobile compatible website with two way interface upto the voter level. There are more than 1.5 lakh elected representatives in the self-government institutions of Gujarat. The State Election Commission is proud to receive the Janaagraha Award from the institution that is totally committed to empowering the citizens of the country,” said Sanjay Prasad, Honourable State Election Commissioner, Gujarat. 

Kerala’s Fourth State Finance Commission was feted for its recommendations on participatory governance and robust data ecosystem Decentralisation. 

“The Government of Kerala is delighted that the Janaagraha City Governance Award has been given to Kerala's Fourth State Finance Commission for its work on the devolution of funds to the local governments of Kerala. As you know, Kerala has a very strong democratic devolution structure. The Fourth State Finance Commission actually ensured that 25% of the state’s plan outlay would be given to the local bodies, panchayats, municipalities, block and jala panchayats. It also gave several far reaching recommendations in terms of the horizontal devolution of the funds, use of the deprivation index and also suggested various measures to augment revenues of the local bodies. It also made far reaching recommendations regarding maintenance of assets, the cost to borrowings including municipal bonds and setting up of a web based software for financial transaction for the local bodies of the state,” said Rajesh Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Kerala Fourth State Finance Commission. 

“We are particularly delighted to receive this award which is in honour and memory of Mr. V.Ramachandran, who is also former Chief Secretary of Kerala and inspiration to all of us and who worked in the field of democratic decentralisation,” he added. 

Indore Municipal Corporation was feted with the Best Municipality award for its PPP Based Integrated Solid Waste Management. 

“The residents of Indore have taken upon themselves to make Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi' s Swachh Bharat Mission successful. Indore has been awarded the cleanest city for 4 consecutive years, for which I would like thank the residents of Indore, the garbage tippers and the various municipal body officials.  I would like to express my gratitude for the award that has been presented by Honourable Minister Shri Hardeep Singh Puri to the city of Indore. I would also like to acknowledge the unwavering commitment of our Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh, for making the Swachh Bharat Mission successful,” said Ms Malini Laxmansingh Gaur, Mayor, Indore. 

The winners were 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). 

“Covid 19 has starkly reminded us of the need for government to be close to citizens, at the ward and even polling booth level.  Decentralised governance with citizen participation inherently built into its design is inevitable for surmounting the challenges of our cities and neighbourhoods.  We need more and more governments, and more and more political and administrative leaders, to put their might behind empowering our municipalities and neighbourhood communities.  Through the Janaagraha City Governance Awards we are committed to amplifying such efforts,” said Srikanth Viswanathan, CEO, Janaagraha. 

Online Event Link can be accessed here –      

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/janaagraha/posts/4022398434439845 

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/janaagraha 

Winners of 2nd Edition of Janaagraha City Governance Awards              

Best State 

Winner - JAGA Mission, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Government of Odisha 

Ist Runner-Up – Decentralisation of Plan Approvals, Urban Development Department, Government of Maharashtra 

IInd Runner-Up – Geo-spatial Mapping of Urban Properties, Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration Department, Government of Telangana            

Best Municipality 

Winner – PPP Based Integrated Solid Waste Management, Indore Municipal Corporation 

Ist Runner Up - My City Beautiful City, Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation         

IInd Runner Up - GIS Based Property Tax Administration System, Raipur Municipal Corporation              

Honourable Mention - Zero Waste Initiative, Kollam Municipal Corporation  

Honourable Mention - Decentralised Solid Waste Management, Vellore Municipal Corporation 

Honourable Mention - Decentralised Solid Waste Management, Petlad Municipality 

Best Civic Agency 

Winner – Piped Water Supply Scheme for all Urban Households, Public Health Engineering Organisation, Odisha 

Ist Runner-Up – Municipal E-Governance Project, Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company 

IInd Runner-Up – Integrated Transport Management System, Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport 

Honourable Mention – E-Platform and ERP System, Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority 

Best State Election Commission 

Winner - E-Voting, Gujarat State Election Commission 

Ist Runner-Up – Bifurcation of Assembly Rolls and Digitisation of Local Body Voter List, Maharashtra State Election Commission  

2nd Runner-Up- E-Election Software, Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission    

Best State Finance Commission 

Winner - Kerala 4th State Finance Commission            

Ist Runner-Up - Bihar 5th State Finance Commission  

IInd Runner-Up - Maharashtra 4th State Finance Commission          

Panel Discussions 

The award ceremony was followed by 3 panel discussions on topics: 

Power to the People: Is a truly empowered City Government possible in India? 

Making Decentralisation work in India: Learning from Successes 

Women Leader’s as Change Agents in India’s Cities 

The panelists consisted of senior Indian and foreign politicians at the center, state and city levels, senior bureaucrats, and inspirational women leaders. 

Janaagraha City Governance Awards  

Janaagraha City Governance Awards are instituted in the memory of Mr V Ramachandran, a doyen of decentralisation, to recognize ground-breaking work in decentralisation in urban context by institutions across government. 

V Ramachandran, a former civil servant, known as the father of democratic decentralisation, set many a precedent with his visionary efforts and contributions in formulating participatory planning practice and Panchayati Raj. He also played a seminal role as a Member of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission in pushing the envelope on administrative reforms in India, and especially on decentralisation to local bodies. He was also a Member of the Governing Board of Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy. 

About Janaagraha 

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy is a non-profit trust in the Jana group co-founded by Swati Ramanathan and Ramesh Ramanathan in 2001. Janaagraha's mission is to transform the quality of life in India's cities and towns. It works with citizens to catalyse active citizenship in city neighbourhoods and with governments to institute reforms to city governance (what we call "City-Systems"). 

The "City-Systems" framework is a whole-of-systems approach to solving for India's cities. It comprises four distinct yet interdependent components: Urban Planning and Design (master plans, design standards for public utilities), Urban Capacities and Resources (municipal finance, municipal staffing and technology), Political Leadership (empowerment, legitimacy) and Transparency and Citizen Participation (public disclosures, citizen participation, service level guarantees and grievance redressal).