Saturday July 7, 2007, 1:00 p.m.
International House, Home Room, 2299 Piedmont Ave, Berkeley

The coming into effect of Right to Information Act and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act show a new awakening at the grassroots as part of which the common citizen is feeling empowered and sees a role for herself in the running of democracy. On the other hand events in Plachimada, Singur and Nandigram point to the fact that people are demanding greater decentralization of power and decision making process. Hence, even though things at the macro level with new
economic policies resulting in corporatization of our lives and resources may not portend too well, the grassroots assertion by the common people holds out some hope.

Sandeep Pandey:
Sandeep Pandey's work is pro-poor and pro-people. His objective is to empower the marginalized so that the poor can have a voice. His actions - from education to grassroots democracy to peace to promoting local ownership of resources - are all guided by that basic philosophy, and governed by an ideology that is Gandhian and humanitarian. He is one of the
co-founders of Asha for Education and is a National Convenor for National Alliance of People's Movements. He was awarded the Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2002, the youngest Indian to receive the coveted award. His work encompasses education, peace, nuclear disarmament, communal harmony, human rights, grassroots democracy,
right to information, right to food and right to employment.

Amod Kumar:
Amod Kumar is currently the Special Secretary, Information Technology, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh. Prior to this he was the District Magistrate (DM) of Sitapur and Faizabad. During his tenure as DM in Sitapur, conceptualized and implemented Lokvani, a public private partnership e-Governance program. The UP Government used this successful concept
as a pilot concept and mandated that all districts have to adopt this culture. This village level e-governance model won 'Golden Icon Award' from Government of India in 2006. It was one of the finalists in the 'Public Administration' Category of 'The Stockholm Challenge 2006' showcasing Information Communication technology projects from around the world.

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