Interns-Annual Survey of Indias City Systems (ASICS)

I. About Janaagraha
Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (Janaagraha) is a Bangalore based not for profit having the mission of transforming quality of life in Indias cities and towns. It defines quality of life as comprising quality of infrastructure and services and quality of citizenship. Janaagraha, along with its sister organisation India Urban Space foundation operates ten programs all of which are based on a robust City-Systems framework. To achieve its mission, Janaagraha works with both citizens and governments in advocating policy, creating platforms for citizen engagement and forging partnerships to attain scale. Over its ten year existence, Janaagraha has built a proven track-record in systemic change in citysystems and in catalysing citizen engagement. Janaagraha was founded by Swati and Ramesh Ramanathan and is led by a management team comprising engineers, management graduates, public policy professionals, urban planners and designers, social science researchers and a military veteran driven by a passion for transformative change. Its staff strength is in excess of eighty and expected to cross one hundred this year. Janaagraha is advised by a stellar Advisory Board comprising leaders across business, social sector and community engagement, management consulting and government.

II.

About ASICS

ASICS is an objective framework to evaluate the state of Indias city-systems. It is intended to serve as a bellwether of the degree and direction of systemic reforms being undertaken by cities. ASICS through the inaugural edition has already evolved as a reference point for conversations on urban India. Some of the highlights of the inaugural ASICS report and event are as follows: 11 Indian cities and 2 global benchmark cities evaluated across 107 parameters ASICS Report unveiled, including detailed action points for Indian cities Voice Of Indias Citizens (VOICE) survey, the citizen perception component of ASICS carried out in Indian cities across 4,200 city-residents Signature event held in New Delhi in early April 2013 with eminent speakers delivering key note speeches on each of the four parts of the city-systems framework, to a multi stakeholder audience Please click to access the ASICS Report and the ASICS Event Report for more detailed information on ASICS and the inaugural event.

III.

Job Description

The position will be based in Bangalore. As an Intern, your role would comprise one or more of the following:

Researching for unique practices and processes followed by cities across the world with
respect to the 4 sections of the City-Systems framework Analyzing data from the survey and drawing trends/ conclusions from it Generating recommendations for City governance based on the analyses Assisting team members in writing the ASICS report Supporting team members in arranging for the ASICS event

IV.

Qualifications and Experience

Pursuing a degree in the fields of Law, Economics, Public Policy, Political Science or other equivalent field. All candidates must preferably be in the last or second last year. Prior work experience in economics, law or policy research with exposure to basic quantitative research, working knowledge of spreadsheets and Microsoft Office with a demonstrated track record of high-performance Candidates from alternative academic backgrounds and careers such as Engineering, Law or Science with outstanding academic and career accomplishments, a passion for urban transformation and willingness and ability to work hard and learn quickly would also be considered and Strong analytical and research skills.

V.

What we look for in our Interns

High levels of self-motivation, passion and perseverance required for social change at a systemic level Attention to detail, high personal standards of performance Willingness to extend oneself to accomplish work objectives, simultaneously pursuing excellence Positive attitude, flexibility and openness to adapt to organisational ideas, approaches and a dynamic work environment Ability to learn quickly on the job, including aspects such as community outreach and working with multi-disciplinary teams Excellent communication skills- written and verbal and interpersonal, team skills.

VI.

What Janaagraha offers

At Janaagraha, you will be part of a multi-disciplinary team of professionals and passionate citizens who apply cutting-edge technologies and practices aimed at social change in Indias cities. Janaagraha offers a dynamic, driven and vibrant work environment for young professionals who are passionate about investing their time, skill sets and energy to transform quality of life in Indias cities. At work, you will be exposed to a unique combination of policy, practice and platforms and will have abundant opportunities to learn and apply professional skills to social challenges.

VII.

More about Janaagraha

Janaagrahas City-Systems framework is a recognition of the fact that challenges faced by our cities and city-residents- water, housing, roads, traffic and transport, power, pollution, crime etc. - are symptoms of deep-rooted malaise in governance and management of our cities. The City-Systems framework envisages transformative change in laws, policies, institutional structures and process across its four parts- Urban Planning and Design, Urban Capacities and Resources, Empowered and

Legitimate Political Representation and Transparency, Accountability and Participation. Some of Janaagrahas accomplishments at a city-systems level include Catalysing the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), largest urban focussed scheme in India. Inclusion of the Public Disclosure Law and Community Participation Law as mandatory reform conditions under the JNNURM. Significant contributions to o Report of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission- section on Urban Local Bodies o Report of the High Powered Expert Committee on Financing Urban Infrastructure o Bombay First Report- Urban Governance section

Janaagrahas programs, all of which are located in the above framework are summarised below along with corresponding outcomes achieved in each.

Program
1 Master Plans

Outcome I Urban Planning and Design

MoU with Union Ministry of Urban Development for developing Master Planning guidelines. Draft NUSPD guidelines unveiled in early April 2013 MoU with Government of India for formal property title in urban areas Rs 200 crores sanctioned by GoK for 45 TS roads in Bangalore Tender SURE has become part of the official vocabulary on road specifications in Karnataka

2 Tender S.U.R.E (TS)

II Urban Capacities and Resources

3 Urban Capacity Building

MoU with the IAS Academy in Mussoorie on their

urban curriculum, by developing case studies on urban governance.

III Empowered and Legitimate Political Representation

4 Jaagte Raho! MoU with Election Commission of India on fixing systemic challenges in urban voter rolls.

IV Transparency, Accountability and Participation

5 P.R.O.O.F Inclusion of Public Disclosure Law as mandatory reform condition in JNNURM Over 20 states have enacted PDL Drawing up and subsequently advocating into policy the Service Level Benchmark framework for urban services Collaboration with the CAG of India and the ICAI on Performance Reporting Framework for cities Requirement of Community Participation Law (CPL), another mandatory reform condition included in JNNURM pursuant to Janaagrahas advocacy Over 20 states have enacted the CPL. Hyderabad has implemented the same in spirit by constituting Area Sabhas. Worlds largest crowdsourcing portal on retail bribes Social change network catalysing neighbourhood level citizen engagement on civic issues Practical Civics classes in 120 schools in 10 cities, impacting over 10,000 students MoU with GoK under discussion

Ward Quality Score An Index of quality of life in neighbourhoods

7 8 9 10

www.ipaidabribe.com www.ichangemycity.com Bala Janaagraha Community Policing

MOU-Memorandum of Understanding; NUSPD- National Urban Spatial Planning Development; S.U.R.E- Specifications on Urban Roads Execution; IAS- Indian Administrative Service; P.R.O.O.F- Public Record Of Operations and Finance; CAG- Comptroller and Auditor General; ICAI- Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; GoK- Government of Karnataka. 1 and 2 above run by India Urban Space Foundation, a sister organisation of Janaagraha.