Chairman Message

Foundation for Social Awareness is not to profit organization promoted by me and a group of like minded professionals to draw the attention on issues of public interest, work for transparency in public life, make the governments accountable and to strengthen Institutions of Governance so that governments are run by rules but not in arbitrary manner.

In the last 37 years of my life in the government what I have observed is over aperiod of time, institutions have collapsed putting unbridled arbitrary powers in the hands of political leaders which is dangerous to any democracy. Honest, efficient officers are getting sidelined while those who side with the people in power are able to survive, occupy positions of importance whichever is the government marginalizing the role of the neutral bureaucracy. The Foundation will work to strengthen the honest, neutral, efficient bureaucrats who are getting marginalized.

Corruption, inefficiency have become the hallmark of Administration resulting in total failure of delivery systems. Of late, governments have come with an innovative approach of direct benefit transfer schemes to eliminate the role of the bureaucracy to the extent possible in delivery systems. To study them and come up with practical solutions which can improve overall administration is an important objective of the Foundation. To study budgets of both the Central Government as well as State governments and can come up with suggestions and solutions to achieve maximum value for the rupee spent is an area of focus for the Foundation.

In spite of 60 – 70 years of huge funding on the welfare side as well as attempts to build the social infrastructure in terms of health and education. The indicators for social health are anything but good. To study what went wrong with the existing systems and suggest improvements to improve the performance is also a major area of concern to work on for the Foundation.

Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian Economy. In spite of its share in GDP coming down drastically, still disproportionately huge number of population are dependent on agriculture. Mechanization is happening at a very fast scale in this sector and the population displaced from agriculture have no skills to find employment in other manufacturing and tertiary sectors. To examine these gaps here work for skill up gradation is also an area for the Foundation. Agriculture to be sustainable in the long run needs to be organic. To study organic alternatives their relevance efficiency and recommend cost effective productivity increasing organic alternatives is also an area of focus for the Foundation

India is an ancient land with rich cultural diversity. There are structures of heritage value with which history of the local area as well as legends and myths are associated with. This is one of the least explored area. Each village has its own tradition, its own Gods and Goddess and history rich with legends and culture. To identify these structures and monuments of historical importance, assist the local community in owning it up and give it the necessary publicity as required so that they get due attention in the broader community.

We are aware this is a very big agenda and needs support of the society for its implementation. We would like to start small, concentrate on some of the issues like transparency, social indicators, preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage and history and slowly expand the agenda. I am supported in this endeavor by team of professionals who are part of this organization, whose profiles are also available on this website.

I request all likeminded, well-meaning individuals who have time and energy are willing to spare to get involved in this endeavor.