Janaagraha and Manupatra to form Vakilpedia

Janaagraha is a Bangalore based not-for-profit organisation that works with the citizens and the Government to change the quality of life in Indian cities and towns. Founded in 2001 by Ramesh Ramanathan and Swati Ramanathan, Janaagraha started as a movement to include people’s participation in public governance and has now evolved into a robust institution for Citizenship and Democracy..Janaagraha is a Bangalore based not-for-profit organisation that works with the citizens and the Government to change the quality of life in Indian cities and towns. Founded in 2001 by Ramesh Ramanathan and Swati Ramanathan, Janaagraha started as a movement to include people’s participation in public governance and has now evolved into a robust institution for Citizenship and Democracy..Janaagraha is putting together an Online Repository of Decentralisation Case Law (ORDCL) also known as Vakilpedia, as an advocacy tool. The objectives of Vakilpedia include bringing decentralisation law into the public consciousness by framing the issues and highlighting the effects of decentralisation on day-to-day governance decisions; assisting legal and non-legal advocacy by identifying trends and key cases, and by promoting analysis and engagement among practitioners; supporting informed judicial and administrative decision-making through access to case law and expert commentary; and promoting structural change through education of lawyers, judges, bureaucrats and elected officials..Speaking to Bar & Bench, Ashwati, Advocacy Manager Legal at the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy said, “The idea of conceptualizing Vakilpedia emerged as Janaagraha was disappointed with the two recent Supreme Court judgments in the MPLAD case and the Arkavathi case. In the matter of interpreting the scope of the functional aspect of local bodies, the Supreme Court failed to appreciate the fact that Panchayats and Municipalities are not mere agencies of higher levels of Government”..Ashwati further stated that, “A Round Table was held at the Janaagraha office to discuss and debate these judgments. The view that emerged from the discussion was that the State legislatures are reluctant to part with power. Part of this reluctance stems from the lack of awareness of the importance of decentralization. Janaagraha has taken it upon itself to create a vibrant ecosystem (through social networking) so that the public at large has exposure and access to laws and judgments regarding decentralization. It is in this regard that we have partnered with Manupatra to provide us with case laws on decentralization. We are also working with student volunteers to summarize the cases and make them available on the website in an “easy to understand” format. The website Vakilpedia.com will initially cater to the legal community and the aim is to broaden the understanding of decentralisation through discussions. We hope that this initiative will enable the people to understand the importance of decentralization for good governance and better quality of life”..Priyanka, the Chief Operations Officer, Manupatra, told Bar & Bench, “It is essentially totally Janaagraha’s brainchild and it was a common friend (Ramesh Ramanathan, Co-founder Janaagraha) and a well wisher who brought us together. This really didn’t take much thought, as we were pretty sure about the project from the time Ramesh gave us the run-through. We are glad that we could make some kind of contribution. We do everything around law, but nothing which touches the layman. So to that extent we were glad that we have got involved in this project”..As regards the role of Manupatra in Vakilpedia, Priyanka said, “We are going to make case laws especially in relation to decentralisation available to the public including judicial administrative bodies, lawyers and judges. This facility will be available without charge through Janaagraha, on Vakilpedia. The project is still in the nascent stages currently, but it is progressing as planned. We had discussed this project in July 2010 and had laid down a road map which is being followed by all parties concerned..To see the objective of Vakilpedia please see the attached document here..Janaagraha is looking for lawyers to review the cases analysed by the student volunteers. For details visit Janaagraha’s website.