Voluntary Citizen or Civil Society Sector
Participating in Government Programmes - The Arghyam Experience (2010)
Posted on 21 May, 2010 01:25 PM
Arghyam, a civil society organisation working on water issues since 2005, has participated in drinking water programmes involving State Governments since its inception, either directly or by partnering with local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
This publication documents Arghyam's and its partners' collective experiences in participating in these Government programmes and puts forward key learnings and challenges.
The various programmes include - Sachethana, a school rooftop rainwater harvesting programme, and Suvarnajala, a flouride mitigation programme, both in Karnataka; Pani Thiye Panjo, a decentralised drinking water management programme in Gujarat; and Mazhapolima, an open-well recharge programme in Kerala.
Increasing transparency and accountability – Another win!
Posted on 14 May, 2010 11:31 AMGuest Post: Amrtha Kasturi Rangan, Arghyam
“When a State Government instead of itself undertaking a work, if it allows an agency like the petitioner Company by substantially funding them to undertake such work which is essentially that of a municipality, no one can say that such work of the petitioner company as a private activity. On the other hand, it is very much a public activity over which public interest can generate”.
Judgement in WP NO. 9794 of 2008 and M.P. Nos. 1 and 2 of 2008
The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 was enacted to ensure transparency and accountability. As per the Act any citizen can write and ask for information from a “public authority”. The Act also requires that public authorities make information about themselves available to the public – mandatory disclosure.
From its time of enactment, there have been several challenges in operationalizing the RTI Act. A progressive civil society has constantly challenged hesitation and delay in providing information. Several ambiguities have required judicial intervention to interpret the letter and the spirit of the Act. Here we look at the success of widening the scope of accountability to include private agencies who partner with the government under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
Mukuteswara Gopalkrishnan to receive American Academy of Water Resources Engineers highest honor
Posted on 11 May, 2010 05:51 PMArticle and Picture Courtesy: American Academy of Water Resources Engineers
John J. Cassidy, Ph.D., P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, NAE, Hon.D.WRE, of Walnut Creek, California, and Mukuteswara Gopalakrishnan Hon.D.WRE, of New Delhi, India and the Secretary General of International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) were recently elected the nineteenth and twentieth Honorary Diplomates of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers. The Honorary Diplomate status is AAWRE's highest honor given to an individual. Since the founding of AAWRE in October 2004, twenty individuals have received the Honorary Diplomate, Water Resources Engineers (Hon.D.WRE) status from the Academy.
Honorary Diplomate status is only granted to outstanding individuals who meet one or more of the following criteria: has attained a position of eminence in the water resources engineering profession, has made a singular noteworthy achievement or sustained noteworthy contributions to the advancement of the water resources engineering profession, or has rendered outstanding service over a sustained period of time in the field of water resources and to the work of the Academy.
Sankalp awards 2010 winners : SarvaJal & Shramik 3S recognised for their double bottomline(social and financial) returns
Posted on 11 May, 2010 04:28 PM
The Sankalp 2010 Awards and Investment Forum is an annual Intellecap initiative committed to catalyzing entrepreneurship in the social enterprise space. Sankalp actively facilitates collaboration between established and budding entrepreneurs, investors, thought leaders and sector stakeholders interested in contributing effectively towards this fledgling yet fast-growing industry.
With a strong focus on double bottomline (social and commercial) enterprises Sankalp, in its second edition, aims to accelerate investment in this space through the showcase of pioneering, sustainable and innovative enterprises capable of long term social impact. Sankalp's primary goal is of bringing together various stakeholders sharing a common conviction that capital should be invested to create multiple bottom-line returns (financial, social and environmental) and not exclusively financial (profit-maximizing) or social (philanthropic) returns.
Thus having successfully established a niche for itself; Sankalp has taken the lead in recognizing those businesses that have mastered the balancing act between the profit and social objectives. Sankalp 2010 Forum and Awards shall recognize, award and connect the most investible social MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium enterprises) operating in 5 high impact sectors:
Training programme on campaign management for development professionals, Sambodhi Research & Communications, New Delhi
Posted on 11 May, 2010 09:41 AMOrganizer: Sambodhi Research & Communications Pvt. Ltd
Venue: New Delhi
Description: The training is specifically aimed at building institutional and individual capacities in designing & implementing social campaigns to bring about the intended change.
Water jobs viz DevNetJobs dated May 5, 2010
Posted on 05 May, 2010 11:35 AMContent Courtesy:DevNetJobsIndia
- Dialogue Coordinator
The Trans-boundary Water Dialogue (TWD) Project
Location: New Delhi
Last Date: May 12, 2010
The slum water programme business plan: A sustainable water solution for marginalized slum communities - A document by ROWS
Posted on 03 May, 2010 10:28 PM
This document by Reach Out Water Solutions (ROWS) highlights the daily reality of people living in the slums of Mumbai and the inadequate water supply available to the 10 million slum residents to meet their daily requirements.
It presents a business plan, namely the Slum Water Programme (SWP) that proposes a comprehensive, community driven, decentralised programme to meet the water needs of the slum community.
The programme proposes to do this in three ways:
- Firstly, by dealing with the problem of inadequate supply of water to the slum residents by the municipality, through increasing the availability of water
- By providing improved quality of water through utilising water purification techniques
- Improving access to water by making it available at the doorstep
India Water Portal looking for a Drupal consultant
Posted on 03 May, 2010 04:42 PMWe are currently seeking the services of a seasoned Drupal Reource (individual/company) to join our team. The Resource (individual/company) will serve as the chief technology consultant, assisting with the design, development, and implementation of changes to the portal related websites, including graphics and functionality.
Upcoming training programmes by Sambodhi Research & Communications, New Delhi
Posted on 03 May, 2010 10:55 AMOrganizer: Sambodhi Research & Communications Pvt. Ltd
Venue: New Delhi
Description:
Excella Orbit, a training division of Sambodhi Research & Communications Pvt. Ltd., is pleased to announce the following training programmes;
The Evaluation Conclave 2010, Sambodhi Research & Communications, New Delhi
Posted on 01 May, 2010 02:45 PMEvaluation Conclave 2010
Theme: "Making Evaluation Matter"
Organizers:
- Sambodhi Research and Communications
- Community of Evaluators (COE)
- Association for Stimulating Knowledge (ASK)
Venue: New Delhi, India
Description:
The event will attract global thinkers engaged in innovative evaluation research, theorizing, or practice who seek opportunities to push their thinking in new directions and are interested in applying their ideas in a South Asian context. It will also include leading development theorists, thinkers, activists and policy makers from South Asia to embed discussions in current development issues and contexts that evaluation must respond to.