Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan is a physician by training, a beaureaucrat by choice, and a democrat by conviction.

IAS

Dr. Narayan was one of the first physicians to join the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and distinguished himself in many administrative roles in Andhra Pradesh over 16 years. In this time Dr. Narayan’s efforts were geared towards empowering underprivileged people in a number of ways, such as:

1. Working for speedy compensation for lands annexed to build the Vizag Steel Plant and ensuring training and employment of over 8000 youngsters from the displaced families
2. Building a lift irrigation system bringing 200,000 of hectares into agriculture
3. Designing plans for infrastructure development of port cities in A.P.

Foundation for Democratic Reforms and Lok Satta

Dr. Narayan spent most of the last decade searching for solutions to the problems afflicting India and realized that a series of constitutional and administrative reforms would be necessary if the country were to survive and progress. In order to dedicate himself to the reformation of the structure of Indian governance Dr. Narayan resigned from the IAS. He founded a non profit, non partisan, non-electoral organization, The Foundation for Democratic Reforms. The Foundation is a think tank for the reforms necessary to improve the governance structure in India and has become a key player in the current discussions about constitutional reforms. Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan has also founded Lok Satta, a grassroots movement aimed at reforming the fundamental structure of Indian governance.

Lok Satta

In less than three years, Lok Satta has grown to be the most credible organization in Andhra Pradesh in bringing awareness of democratic principles to the general public. The major achievements of Lok Satta include the development and wide distribution of the Citizen's Charter, a handy guide for citizens on their rights, procedures for enforcement of their rights and obtaining the necessary services from various government agencies. In the last two elections, Lok Satta's name has become synonymous with Election Watch in Andhra Pradesh. The 70,000 plus volunteers of Lok Satta conducted Candidates' Forums all over the state and >Lok Satta widely publicized the criminal histories of the candidates put up by various parties. The organizations' activities also includes Swarajya, i.e. the advocacy of governance reforms at the state and local level, which would ensure i) education for all children, ii) toilets for every household and iii) right to information.

An excerpt from a message from Dr. Jayprakash Narayan

India is going through an extraordinary phase. On the one hand, there are young, idealistic, brilliant people who are creating wealth and pursuing excellence with great vigor. On the other hand, governance institutions are in shambles and the government has become the stumbling block in our pursuit of happiness.

In advanced societies much of what the government does is taken for granted. Public order, rule of law, justice, school education, primary health care, basic infrastructure and natural resource development – all these are the preconditions for a civilized society and a great country. All these are in the government’s hands directly or indirectly and its failure impedes every citizens' march of progress.

The problem of India is not the lack of values – it is the absence of a milieu in which good behavior is encouraged and bad behavior is punished. The problem of India is not poverty – it is the incapacity to channel our energies and resources in a productive manner. The Indian government spends Rs 15 billion of public money everyday and yet public services are of appalling quality. We only need 8 days of one-time government expenditure to provide schools for all children and 24 days of one-time public expenditure to build toilets for each of the 140 million households that suffer the indignity and unhealthiness of public defecation. The problem is bad governance. We need to reform our institutions to get the best out of the governments we elect to serve us.

Lok Satta is India's premier governance reform movement dedicated to: i) redefining and focusing the role of the government, ii) electoral reform to ensure that the best and brightest attain public office and survive to serve us, iii) significant decentralization of power to enable citizens to establish the link between their vote and their well-being and between taxes and public services, and iv) creating in our hands instruments of accountability to check the abuse of power.

Lok Satta is widely recognized, highly credible and enjoys the support of over 10% of the population of Andhra Pradesh. We need to build a truly national movement for governance reforms, in particular electoral reforms, which are central to a fair and effective democracy.

The deepening fiscal crisis of governments in India and the political uncertainties on the one hand, and the dynamism in society and the growth impulses in the economy on the other hand, provide us a priceless window of opportunity for governance reforms in the next few years.

All credible people’s movements and individuals should now come together to work for far-reaching reforms in the next few years. The status quo is no longer sustainable. If India fails to combat corruption, ensure fair elections, decentralize power, promote high quality public services and introduce systems of accountability a generation or more will pay a very heavy price.