The Government of Karnataka's Working Group on Decentralization discusses mechanisms for democratizing decision making in Panchayats. This is the third in a series of articles adapted from the Working Group's 2002 report.

Kathyayini Chamaraj looks at a civil society partnership that is catalysing a government urban poverty alleviation programme.

An update from the Bangalore's Public Records of Operations and Finance (PROOF) campaign.

A recent Supreme Court order has said that the Government shall build a second runway only in full compliance the law.

Marginalised communities continue to demonstrate that they can own and operate their own media to ensure that their voices are heard. But is the Government looking their way, asks Ashish Sen.

T R Raghunandan is a hard hitting IAS officer managing Rural Development at the Government of Karnataka. In this interview to India Together, he talks about decentralization reforms and the challenges of winding down prevailing hierarchies in government.

On G S Gidde Gowda's farm outside Hassan, the theories of conventional farming take a backseat, while he applies a systematic preference for nature's own hand.

With more citizens taking interest, Bangalore's Janaagraha campaign is expanding to neighboring municipal areas.

Bangalore Municipality's fourth quarter results round up and other updates from the city' Public Records of Operations and Finance (PROOF) campaign.

An update from Bangalore's PROOF (Public Records of Operations and Finance) campaign.

Rasika Dhavse profiles the Bala and Yuva Janaagraha campaigns at Bangalore.

N G Hegde on a Karnataka water project that is more than an innovation making water and irrigation a reality in a drought-prone area.

A proposal for the last dam on Karnataka's Kali river has been abandoned, says the state's Industries Minister R.V.Deshpande. The state's apex environmental regulator makes several forward-looking promises.

A township on the eastern outskirts of Bangalore was among the first to run into council elections after the Supreme Court ruled on new disclosure rules for candiates. Public Affairs Centre looks at whether candidates and officials actually followed due process.

Karnataka's best bid at electronic governance is targeting land records, says Keya Acharya.

A new legislation aims to bring in a rigorous process of planning, transparency and citizen participation together at the local level in Karnataka, says Vinay Baindur.

Incorporating a financial structure that allows stakeholders to hold each other accountable in their balance of interests can make municipal water supply a win-win for everyone, says Jacob John.

Karnataka's West Coast Paper Mill had to deal with much more than shareholders on the day of its recent Annual General Meeting.

Shree Padre delves into the details of a unique, successful experiment of self-help farm journalism.

India Together interviews Srikanth Nadhamuni of Bangalore's eGovernments Foundation.

As 2003 draws to a close, Rasika Dhavse reports on Janaagraha, a Bangalore's citizens platform for participative local democracy.

Anitha Pailoor profiles a large landholding family farm in Karnataka's Hassan district that switched from chemical farming to organic in the mid-nineties.

India Together

Karnataka's Electricity Regulatory Commission reminds Bangalore's power supplier it has an obligation to provide reliable and safe service.

Karnataka's state government proposes to divert the waters of the Goa bound Mahadayi river back into the Malaprabha river to counter acute water scarcity. Kanchi Kohli digs deeper.

Subramaniam Vincent profiles eGovernments Foundation's partnership with Karnataka to create better property-tracking systems, and notes the early gains for the state.

Jacob John reviews Of Master Plans, Laws and Illegalities in an Era of Transition, a report prepared by the Alternate Law Forum for the Bangalore Development Authority.

The Karnataka Election Watch Committee collected an enormous amount of data about candidates as the state went into Assembly and Lok Sabha polls late last month. A brief report.

With many of its regular programmes running smoothly, Bangalore's pioneering civil society organisation turns to newer ways of engaging citizens. Rasika Dhavse reports.

Citizens and government are thinking differently about each other on access to information, notes Subramaniam Vincent. The Central law in the next challenge.

Subramaniam Vincent follows the intrigue, as New Delhi seeks to weaken Right to Information laws on the one hand, and receives a proposal to strengthen RTI at the same time.

The Bangalore based technology non-profit, eGovernments Foundation has recently been in the news for expanding its municipal systems reform operations to New Delhi. Managing Trustee Srikanth Nadhamuni talks to Subramaniam Vincent.

The pressing need for direct participation of citizens in public oversight has always contrasted with the eagerness of political parties to penetrate virtually all public offices. In Karnataka, school development monitoring committees were the latest to fall victim to this imbalance. Subramaniam Vincent reports.

Hit by metal mining and tree cutting, the Kapotagiri hill range in Karnataka was turning barren. But in the last year, a local seer has worked with forest officials to bring back some of the green glory, reports Shivaram Pailoor.

True, Bangalore must be able to handle more flights, passengers and air freight to meet current demand and future growth. But London’s Heathrow airport sits on 1000 acres less land, and yet flies 14 times more passengers than Bangalore's new airport will. What's going on? Jacob John investigates.

There is no overlap between the administrative jurisdictions of various city agencies, or congruence with political boundaries. The result: the citizen is confused, the local politician is confused, the agency representatives are confused. Ramesh Ramanathan calls for a transformation of this chaotic situation.

The potential of rainwater harvesting has been much talked about in recent times. But that an ordinary plastic water storage drum connected to the roof through a pipe will turn this potential to reality is surprising many citizens in the Bangalore-Mysore region, reports Shree Padre.

Water table reports in Karnataka show that the future looks bleak. While rainwater harvesting (RWH) is looked upon as a viable solution and has become a buzzword, the state has only taken an incremental implementation path, with urban areas currently leading rural areas, reports Padmalatha Ravi.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is the nation's supreme audit institution. It is widely respected for its unshaken independence in auditing government expenditure. But in its scrutiny of Karnataka's Gerusoppa dam, it let off the Karnataka Power Corporation on two key counts. Himanshu Upadhyaya interprets the CAG's 2004 report.

A citizens forum at Bangalore has been spearheading interventions using the Karnataka Right to Information Act for the past year. The Katte members' focus has helped expose the law's weaknesses and make recommendations to better the recently passed Central Right to Information Bill. Kathyayini Chamaraj reports.

Residents of seven villages in Kolar district depend on water from the Mudiyanur tank which is not in good shape and in need of de-silting. Still, the villagers' worship of goddess Chowdeswari has helped them preserve an age-old tradition of water allocation, finds Surekha Sule.

A Karnataka district that has been reeling under three successive years of drought may be bouncing back. The state government's top bureaucrat in Bagalkote district led civil society groups in a water harvesting campaign between 16-27 June, just as the monsoon rains had begun. Shree Padre reports.

Three generations of a farming family in Bagalkot district in Karnataka campaigned to drought-proof the fields and to conserve the soil and water. Their inspiration was a 170-year old book that until recently remained only in manuscript form. Shree Padre reports on the enviable results.

It may take more than random coverage of dramatic developments on the civic front for the media fulfil its promise of connecting citizens and governments. Mere reports based entirely on press statements and conferences in which plans are presented with little questioning won't do, writes Ammu Joseph.

Rainwater harvesting isn't just for drought-prone regions, nor is it an entirely recent development. Shree Padre travels to an old church in Dakshina Kannada district, where despite living in one of the rainiest places in the nation, monks put up a roof water harvester many decades ago, and maintain it to this day.

Talk of the city's future is a lament over failing infrastructure, encroachments, and neglected millions. Civic-minded citizens are critical of the latest Comprehensive Development Plan, and point to its legal flaws, mismanaged process for citizen inputs, and misplaced priorities. Arati Rao reports.

On 31 December 2005, the curtains are set to come down on the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd's long disputed mining operations in the protected Kudremukh National Park. But ensuring an end to mining in one of the most stunning landscapes of the country has not been easy. Pavithra Sankaran provides a telling narrative.

On 31 December 2005, the curtains are set to come down on the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd's long disputed mining operations in the protected Kudremukh National Park. But ensuring an end to mining in one of the most stunning landscapes of the country has not been easy. Pavithra Sankaran provides a telling narrative.

All the steel and glass towers of the glitzy facade of Bangalore cannot hide its seamy underbelly where life is pieced together under plastic tents, with fear and want as constant companions. The Bangalore Social Forum that came into existence on Independence Day believes that “another Bangalore is possible," writes Kathyayini Chamaraj.

Should Bangalore and its surrounding municipalities be merged into a single jurisdiction, as the state's politicians are now proposing to do? The Constitutional standard as well as Bangalore's abysmal record of administering even the core metropolis both argue against centralisation. The India Together editorial.