# Janaagraha: Building Better Cities Through Data, Finance & Citizen Participation

**URL:** https://grove.rainmatter.org/t/janaagraha-building-better-cities-through-data-finance-citizen-participation/5176
**Category:** General
**Created:** [August 22, 2026, 8:30am UTC](https://grove.rainmatter.org/t/janaagraha-building-better-cities-through-data-finance-citizen-participation/5176 "2026-08-22T08:30:24Z")
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### Author: ![Janaagraha](https://grove.rainmatter.org/user_avatar/grove.rainmatter.org/janaagraha/32/2765_2.png) [@Janaagraha](https://grove.rainmatter.org/u/Janaagraha)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2026, 8:30am UTC](https://grove.rainmatter.org/t/janaagraha-building-better-cities-through-data-finance-citizen-participation/5176/1 "2026-08-22T08:30:24Z")

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Hello everyone,  
Here’s a quick look at what **Janaagraha** has been working on recently from urban data and AI-ready public data systems to strengthening city finance and enabling citizen participation.

**BRICS 2026: Is Our Public Data Ready for AI?**

As AI changes how governments collect, manage and use data, one question is becoming increasingly important:

**How do we build public data systems that are ready for AI?**

At the **BRICS 2026 National Statistics Offices Meeting in Lucknow, Janaagraha** , as knowledge partner to the **Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (GoIStats)**, anchored a side event on **“AI Readiness in the Evolving Data Ecosystem.”**

The discussion brought together **100+ participants** , both online and in person, with experts and practitioners from **Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa and the UAE**.

 ![1](https://groveassets.rainmatter.org/original/2X/3/38588fe26aef95e48739f259e7484637ae6ca278.jpeg)  
 ![2](https://groveassets.rainmatter.org/original/2X/4/49f18401c3d1363b54efbec0c30071c9bbfd48d9.jpeg)

The event opened with remarks by **Dr. Saurabh Garg** and **Srikanth Viswanathan** , followed by a roundtable chaired by **P. R. Meshram** , Director General, Data Governance, GoIStats, and moderated by **Anand Iyer** , Chief Policy & Insights Officer, Janaagraha.

A key message emerged across the discussions:

**AI is only as good as the data behind it.**

Participants highlighted the need for:  
• **Trusted and high-quality data**  
• **Common standards and interoperability**  
• **Regularly updated and granular data**  
• **Stronger institutional capacity**  
• Systems that are **used and sustained not just launched**

 ![3](https://groveassets.rainmatter.org/original/2X/f/f4d208601eb24d261e260514dfd2738012bb3ca0.jpeg)

Janaagraha also showcased the **City Data and Analytics Platform (CDAP)** which brings urban government data together to make it more accessible, interoperable and useful for data-driven decision-making.

The conversation reinforced a simple idea: AI readiness starts with building a strong public data foundation.

**Watch the DD News UP coverage of the event:** [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-tEaTWsI0)

**Explore CDAP:** [Link](https://www.citydata.org.in/screening)

**City Finance Dialogues: Can Cities Spend Better?**

A road is built.  
A few weeks later, it is dug up for a pipe.  
It is patched.  
Then dug up again by another agency.

**Sound familiar?**

In Bengaluru, a government audit found that **gas pipelines were hit 597 times during road digging** because agencies did not have accurate records of what was underground.

The city spent **Rs.119 crores on pothole repairs in just three years.**

This is not just about one contractor or one road.

It points to a bigger question: **how can cities plan, coordinate and manage infrastructure better?**

India is now entering a major wave of urban infrastructure investment. Cities will need more money to build roads, water systems, transport and other essential infrastructure.

But the bigger question is:

**Do our cities have the systems to use this money well?**

This was the focus of **City Finance Dialogues | Edition 1, held by Janaagraha** on 23 July 2026.

**The conversation brought together:**

• **Amarjeet Sinha** - Senior Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress; former Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Government of India  
• **Beena Philip** - Former Mayor, Kozhikode Municipal Corporation  
• **Shivani Singh** - Editor, Urban Affairs, Hindustan Times  
• **Ganesh Kamath** - Civil Engineer and Contractor, Swayam Prabha Constructions

**Prabhat Kumar** , Director, Public Finance Management, Janaagraha, moderated the conversation.

**Key takeaways of the Dialogue:**

1. **Repeated infrastructure failures are a systems problem.**  
When roads are repeatedly dug up, patched and dug up again, the problem goes beyond individual contractors. Fragmented responsibilities make coordination and accountability difficult.

2. **Better planning starts with citizens.**  
Experiences such as Kerala’s Janakeeya Asoothranam and the idea of “City Halls” showed how bringing citizens into planning early can lead to more transparent and effective infrastructure delivery.

3. **More funding alone is not enough.**  
The ₹3.56 lakh crore from the XVI Finance Commission and ₹1 lakh crore Urban Challenge Fund create a major opportunity. But stronger coordination, better processes and meaningful citizen participation will determine whether that investment creates infrastructure that lasts.

**City Finance Dialogues is just getting started.** Janaagraha will continue this quarterly series to bring public conversations on city finance and urban governance to the forefront.

**Watch the full City Finance Dialogue:** [Link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxeLDeZodbY)

**Citizens’ Manifesto Jam: Shaping Bengaluru’s Priorities Together**

Bengaluru’s city corporation elections are approaching. Ahead of the elections, citizens came together to ask an important question:

**What should be the priorities for our wards and neighbourhoods?**

At the **Citizens’ Manifesto Jam, Oorvani Foundation, Janaagraha, Greater Bengaluru Balaga, Bangalore Apartments’ Federation, and Million Voter Rising** brought citizens together to:

• Identify key **ward- and city-level issues**  
• Discuss **practical solutions**  
• Co-create a **Citizens’ Charter of Demands** for candidates and future elected representatives

Held at the\*spark, Pullur Centre, Whitefield, on 18 July 2026, the session created a space for citizens to share concerns, exchange ideas and shape the priorities they want to see reflected in Bengaluru’s future.

**City Data Analytics Platform: Making Urban Data Work for Better Cities**

**Good decisions need good data.**

But urban data in India is often scattered across departments, collected in different ways, and difficult to access or compare.

The result? **Harder planning. Weaker coordination. Missed opportunities to improve citizens’ lives.**

That’s where the **City Data and Analytics Platform (CDAP)** comes in.

**Explore CDAP:** [Link](https://www.citydata.org.in/screening)

CDAP brings together data from **4,000 cities** , with 1 **00,000+ data points across 15 key sectors** , into one accessible platform.

It helps bring scattered urban data together so that **governments, researchers and urban practitioners can find, understand and use it more effectively.**

CDAP is a microsite of **NITI Aayog’s National Data and Analytics Platform** , conceived, developed and operated by **Janaagraha** , in technical collaboration with **IBM** through the **#IBMImpactAccelerator**.

At **NITI Aayog’s Data Forum 2025 in Bhopal** , we brought CDAP into the conversation and asked government representatives, researchers and urban practitioners a simple question: **Why do stronger urban data systems matter for India’s cities?**

**Link to the LinkedIn Post:** [Link](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7486798750439460864)