Local Governance and Social Accountability in India July 2025 Batch
A 6‑day course for field professionals working on issues related to implementation, transparency and accountability in welfare and entitlement programmes like, MGNREGA and Forest Rights Act.
Introduction
Social Accountability can be defined as “the obligation of those holding power to take responsibility for their behaviour and actions”. It has gained prominence over the last few decades in ensuring that local institutions act in compliance with their prescribed functions and protocols. Social accountability of local bodies like Gram Panchayats and other governance institutions is critical for ensuring that local governance in India is responsive, accountable and transparent.
The tools of social accountability have diversified over the years and their application has expanded to cover multiple schemes and entitlements implemented by local agencies. This course intends to provide the participants a rigorous understanding of these tools of social accountability and their application in rural local governance contexts. The course is grounded in constitutional values and the practice of democracy in India. Through the course, participants will understand how the concepts of local governance, rights and entitlements and social accountability tools are interconnected and and appreciate the role of social accountability in improving the effectiveness of local governance.
Who is this for?
This course is designed for field professionals working broadly in the social sector, at the district level and below, with at least 2 years of experience. Their work should be related to rural local governance, social accountability and delivery of rights and welfare entitlements.
Pedagogy
The short course uses a mixture of pedagogical tools including lectures, debates, role-play, group reading and presentations, documentary films, field-work and assessments including peer review and reflections. The field-work for the course involves participants designing social accountability tools and implementing them in a field-stie, with the help of local coordinators.
Learning objectives
The course aims to
- Introduce the important tools of social accountability and their applicability and use in local contexts.
- Enable participants to understand the deeper association between the practice of social accountability with constitutional values, democratic principles and sustainable development.
- Building the capacities of participants to conduct, analyse and report on social accountability exercises in their roles effectively, and help them grow professionally in the development sector
Certification
Certificate of Participation will be issued to all participants after successful participation in all modules of the workshop.
Course dates: 7 – 12 July 2025
Location: Azim Premji Foundation District Institute, Dhamtari, Chhattisgarh
Course Faculty
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Sham N Kashyap
Sham is a faculty member with over 15 years of experience in the policy and governance space, largely in the state of Karnataka. He has worked in the areas of Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs), public health, sanitation and agriculture and has led research projects and evaluation and monitoring studies. He has also briefly served as…
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Ashok Kumar Sircar
Ashok Sircar has worked for 31 years spanning the corporate sector, development sector, and teaching/training. He has been extensively involved in development action and studies in India in the domains of programme design, planning and execution, monitoring-evaluation, research and policy advocacy on issues of local governance, land rights and livelihoods.
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Awanish Kumar
Awanish Kumar is an Associate Professor at the School of Development, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. He is also an Honorary Fellow at the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, and Consulting Editor (Book Reviews) at Economic & Political Weekly. He previously held a British Academy Newton International Fellowship at the University of…
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Rajendran Narayanan
Rajendran Narayanan is an Associate Professor in the School of Arts and Sciences. At Azim Premji University, he teaches in the economics programme and anchors the Occupational Track on ‘Data, Democracy & Development.’ He is keen on building bridges between research, advocacy and public engagement which led him to be a co-founder of LibTech India, which works with researchers, civil society organisations and governments across some states on improving transparency and accountability of rural social policies. He is part of national campaigns such as those involved in the promotion of constitutional values, human rights, right to work and food, etc.
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Edward Premdas Pinto
Edward Premdas Pinto is a human rights lawyer and public health practitioner-academic (pracademic) with 28 years of engagement with the social justice issues of marginalised communities in India.
Fee Structure
| INR 7500 |
|---|
(excluding GST)
Accepted participants have to bear the cost of their travel to and from the Azim Premji Foundation Field Institute, Dhamtari, Chhattisgarh.