- Overall updates (since the last update)
In April, Oorvani’s work focused on something very core to our mission: helping citizens access useful public information, bringing communities together around shared civic concerns, and turning these conversations into action.
One of the key highlights of the month was the first Oorvani Change Network: Learning from the Doers session for 2026. The session focused on human-canine co-existence, a subject that is becoming increasingly urgent across Indian cities. We brought together speakers from three different contexts: an educational institution, a resident welfare association, and a Bengaluru-based initiative managing hyperlocal canine squads. The conversation created useful possibilities.
April was also an important month for our Chennai work, especially in the context of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
This work also began creating visible public impact. The results of the Chennai Assembly Elections Common Minimum Programme were covered by The Hindu, giving wider visibility to citizens’ civic priorities ahead of the polls.
Recommended Reads for the Elections
We also saw how sustained community engagement can lead to concrete civic action. A participant from our waste management discussions, Jayaraman, published a news report on garbage burning in Tiruvanchery Panchayat, Tambaram.
On the information and data front, our election-related public resources saw strong engagement.
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Any new avenues of collaboration (with other Grantees of RCF or other NPO/NGO)
We’re looking to collaborate with Asar for heat work in Mumbai along with some other local community organisations. -
KPIs (please use this section to let us know of the impact and reach of your work since the last update)
- We facilitated community discussions with residents, RWAs, civic groups and experts to identify a common list of civic concerns across constituencies. Around 15-20 participants joined these discussions, and the issues identified were then circulated as a survey. The survey received 372 responses, helping shape a citizen-led Common Minimum Programme for Chennai.
- We reached over 7000 citizens for the work done on the election articles and explainers. On OpenCity, the datasets section received over 117,000 views.