Citizens’ Report on Governance

Democracy become real when rights are realized. Just and accountable governance is key in making democracy and development work. This can only happen people are empowered to seek accountability and monitor institutions of governance. Right to information, democratization of knowledge and peoples participation is the enabling conditions for democratic governance. The citizen’s report on governance and development and the social watch process emerged out of the felt need by citizens groups and civil society organizations to get informed analysis and periodic monitoring of important institutions of our democracy and governance. This process began in the year 2002 and it was planned out to bring out the report every year. The National Social Watch Coalition initiates the process, which is a broad based network of citizens group and civil society organizations. The coalition attempts to monitor institutions of governance and their commitment towards citizens and principals of democracy, particularly with reference to the marginalized section of the society. In Chhattisgarh the Chhattisgarh Social Watch group formed and Samarthan played a major role in this.

Chhattisgarh Tribal Development Projects: Innovative Approaches to Poverty Targeting and Best Practices

Samarthan, Chhattisgarh conducted a study in collaboration with the World Food Programme and IFAD to document processes and mechanisms through which Chhattisgarh Tribal Development Programme (CTDP) has ensured access to project benefits and services by the poorest communities (including Scheduled tribes and women) and sections of the population, to illustrate to what extent and in what way these approaches have been (a) innovative for the context in which they have been applied, and (b) participatory and inclusive of the poor and marginalized, map best practices, innovations and experiences such that lesson can be drawn in the term of institutionalisation and replication of these approaches, assess progress of the programme and rapid comparison with areas where there has not been an intervention. The broad findings of the study are reorganization of the existing committees of the programme, nuanced capacity building programme for the committee members, convergence of the programme with Panchayats and other Development initiatives, relationship building with the NGOs and CBOs, synergistic linkages of the project with other departments etc.