About Us
Janaagraha is a non-profit trust, working towards the mission of transforming the quality of life in India’s cities and towns. Founded in 2001 by Ramesh Ramanathan and Swati Ramanathan, it started as a movement to include people’s participation in public governance and has now evolved into a robust institution for citizenship and democracy.
City Systems Framework
We believe that cities should be viewed through a structural construct that we refer to as the City-Systems framework. This strategy is our action-oriented approach to transforming India’s cities and towns. Fixing India’s City-Systems is crucial to fixing our cities and consequently improving the Quality of Life for our citizens.
Depicted through a metamorphosing butterfly with four wings, the City-Systems framework defines four significant aspects of urban transformation:
-
Urban Planning
& Design -
Urban Capacities
& Resources -
Transparent, Empowered &
Legitimate Representation -
Accountability
& Participation
Impact
The core idea of our work does not revolve around ‘fixing problems’ but instead ‘fixing the system’ that can solve the problems. We work with citizens to catalyse active citizenship and with governments to institute city governance reforms, called “City-Systems.” All our interventions are population-scale interventions in which the target stakeholder group is the entire urban population of Indian states.
We began as a movement in 2001 to include people’s participation in public governance. We have now evolved into a robust institution for citizenship and democracy.
- 2020 Ongoing – Strengthening City Finances
- 2013 Ongoing – Diagnosing Urban Governance in cities
- 2005 Ongoing – Catalysing Urban Reforms at scale
Where We Work
We are now spread across different parts of the country, starting from humble beginnings, and we work to transform lives in the urban context.
Partners
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
Corporation of the City of Panaji
Government of Odisha
Faridabad Municipal Corporation
Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation
Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation
Gurugram Municipal Corporation
6th State Finance Commission, Haryana
Solapur Municipal Corporation
Karnataka State Election Commission
15th Central Finance Commission
Department of Local Self Government, Government of Rajasthan
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike
Maharashtra Directorate of Municipal Administration
Tamil Nadu Commissionerate of Municipal Administration
Raipur Municipal Corporation
Government of Chattisgarh
Focus Areas
We work to fix City Systems at the intersections of law, policy, and institutions. Our focus rests on specific elements to strengthen the framework to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals that will improve the lives of our citizens.
- Sustainable Environment / Climate Change & Sustainable Mobility
- Public Health
- Gender Equality
- Urban Sanitation
- Strengthening Public Institutions