Summary: Governance in India is complicated. A federal structure, decentralised functioning, elected representatives and bureaucrats, and quasi-government bodies all working together often means that making sense of how services are delivered to citizens can be a challenge in itself.

In an attempt to understand this extensive, complex system better, we have tried to ‘Map’ governance. Mapping Governance is an interactive, visual, and dynamic learning tool that gives a holistic view of how social sector programmes in India are governed from the Union government down to the last mile. We like to call these tools ‘Maps’.

This panel discussion brought together leaders in the development space to stress the importance of strategic government engagement for development practitioners. The discussion explored the challenges of governance, what kind of information is needed in order to create better strategies for government engagement, and how a tool such as Mapping Governance can support the work of development practitioners.

Speakers:

• Anjali Bhardwaj, Founder, Satark Nagrik Sangathan
• Dr. Sekhar Bonu, Director General, Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office, NITI Aayog
• Saurabh Garg, Chief Executive Officer, Unique Identification Authority of India

Moderated by Yamini Aiyar, President and Chief Executive, the Centre for Policy Research, and Founder of the Accountability Initiative.

Access the session recording here.

Registration link will be shared soon.