Past Events

With a view to deliberate on strategies for citizens’ and stakeholders’ participation in urban planning, a national workshop on “Inclusive Cities and Center-staging Citizen Participation” was co-organized by PRIA, CEPT University and Unnati at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, 12--13 November.

The workshop aimed to bring out a framework for preparing policy and guidelines to ensure citizen participation in urban planning and project planning processes. The participants deliberated on opportunities and challenges of citizen participation in urban planning. Planning experiences of CEPT University, EPC Consultants, Unnati and All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG) were shared in the workshop. PRIA, Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), Mumbai, Town & Country Planning Organization (TCPO), Kollam, Kerala, and School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, shared their experiences of citizen participation in preparing Master Plan. Based on the experiences, four working groups were formed, which submitted their recommendations on the second day of the workshop. It was decided to document significant issues from the whole deliberations and also to prepare a working paper on the themes.

Concept Note

Power point presentations:

Summary Report

Read More ...

The Union Finance Minister,Shri Pranab Mukherjee at the pre-budget meeting with NGOs in New Delhi on January 21,2010

Read More ...

National Round Table on 'Inclusive Urban Governance: Challenges and Opportunities',

New Delhi, 28—29 January

Representaitives of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and urban governance experts brainstormed on the various ways to influence urban governance policies, programmes and institutions from citizens' perspectives at the National Round Table of CSOs on ‘Inclusive Urban Governance: Challenges and Opportunities', New Delhi, 28--29, January. Addressing the participants, Dr. Rajesh Tandon, President, PRIA, said that urban issues are yet to be recognised as an agenda in the governance of the country. "Though it has been 18 years since the 74th Amendment, the nation got its first urban programme only three years back", he opined. The participants collectively called for a more aggressive campaign to realise the impact of the amendment on urban governance. They asserted the need to ensure democratic decentralisation, upscaling of citizen participation and social accountability in urban local governance institutions, realising citizens’ rights to basic urban services and inclusion of the informal sector in planning. The specific objectives of the National Round Table were to discuss ways to upscale and mainstream civil society innovations addressing urban governance-related issues and problems. Representatives of more than 30 CSOs from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Delhi participated in the two-day conclave organised by PRIA.

Read More ...

Stimulating a critical deliberation by reviewing the different aspects of functioning of Panchayats and Municipalities, PRIA organised a two-day National Dialogue on Strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions in India, New Delhi, 12--13 February.

In the first day of the dialogue held at PRIA campus, Elected representatives (ERs) of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs) and academia reviewed, reflected and analysed the progress made so far by the PRIs and the various challenges faced by them in the course. The sessions focused on the thematic areas of development, devolution and planning, leadership of SCs/STs and women in Panchayats. Representatives of national and regional political parties like Shri. Mani Shankar Aiyar (INC), Shri. Amarjeet Kaur (CPI), Shri. Anant Kumar Hegde (BJP), Shri. K. C. Tyagi (JDU) and Shri. K. N. Rai (Sikkim Democratic Front) were present at the deliberations held at the Indian Habitat Centre (IHC) on the second day.

Programme Design

Photogallary

Read more...

Read More ...

Building further on the efforts on Women’s Political Empowerment and Leadership (WPEL), PRIA organised a national workshop on "Strengthening Women’s Leadership in Panchayats" at the India Islamic Cultural Centre (IICC), New Delhi, 9--10 March.

The objective of the workshop was to provide a national platform to the women leaders in Panchayats from the states to exchange their leadership experiences and learn more on political leadership. Discussions at the two-day event focused on topics and issues pertinent to political leadership like constituency building, issues and challenges during elections, constituency building skills, besides communication and interaction skills. A group visit was also organised to the Office of Rashtriya Sahara, where the women participants interacted with media personnel.

Women panchayat and community leaders from the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand attended the event. The participants have been associated with the WPEL programme and have either recently contested panchayat elections (in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan) or will be contesting panchayat elections in the near future (in Haryana and Jharkhand).

Programme Design

Photo Gallary

News Clippings

Read More ...