"It is not the lack of resources that is hindering India, but it is the lack of good governance” says Rao Chalasani, the President of the Foundation for Democratic Reforms in India (FDRI), noting that the Indian government spends about Rs. 1800 crores a day. Chalasani was speaking at the launch of the Chicago chapter of FDRI at the Hinsdale Community Center on Sunday, October 26. FDRI strongly advocates that India urgently needs is a holistic approach to reforming several issues that are hindering good governance.  FDRI works closely with other NRI institutions in US in raising awareness of the need for governance reforms, and supports mature organizations in India leading the movement for governance reforms.

The launch of the Chicago chapter of FDRI was attended by 150 volunteers and enthusiasts. Representatives from nearly 30 Indian community organizations attended this event. Several of the organizations including IDS, SAGAR, SARC, AIDIndia, and FYI endorsed the ideals of FDRI and pledged their active support and collaboration. Jyotsna Etikala, one of the organizers of the FDRI Chicago Chapter, welcomed the audience and introduced Rao Chalasani.

Chalasani recalled Mahatma Gandhi’s saying, “Democracy, disciplined and enlightened, is the most beautiful thing in the world”. “India certainly has democracy; we need to ensure that it is a disciplined and enlightened democracy”, says Chalasani whose organization advocates a comprehensive approach to the issue of governance and outlined the five pillars of the governance reforms movement: electoral reforms, empowerment of local governments, speedy and efficient justice system, instruments of accountability, and implementation of best practices from around the world. Chalasani, a 25-year Wall Street veteran, retired three years ago to work full-time advocating governance reforms in India. Chalasani asserts that the need of the hour is an empowerment movement that would let the ordinary Indian citizens to reach their full potential and turns India into a confident, prosperous global leader. Chalasani described FDRI’s efforts in US and its collaboration with Lok Satta, a Hyderabad based citizen movement for governance reforms.

Kasi Paturi, a community activist leading the FDRI Chicago Chapter, introduced the audience to Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, the leader of the Lok Satta movement and the Convener of the National Coalition of Electoral Reforms. Dr. Narayan, a physician turned IAS officer, left the IAS, after 16 years of service in high places, at the young age of 40 to lead this citizens movement and has been very successful in raising the national consciousness about the need for immediate reforms in governance. "Dr. Narayan appears to be the right messenger with the right message at the right time", noted Paturi.

“Lok Satta researches the issues carefully, and tries to address the root causes rather than symptoms. It educates the citizens about these problems and uses non-partisan, informed collective assertion to achieve scalable and sustainable results that can be replicated in other parts of the country”, said Dr. V. Chowdary Jampala, Secretary of FDRI. Describing the recent successes achieved by Lok Satta, Dr. Jampala gave several examples including Lok Satta's successes in getting the campaign funding reforms bill passed by the parliament and getting the Election Commission to implement disclosures of criminal history and assets and liabilities of the candidates contesting elections. In a span of 53 days  between August and October, Lok Satta was able to collect signatures of ten million (one crore) voters in Andhra Pradesh demanding empowerment of local governments. "I am excited to see the rapid pace with which Lok Satta is achieving its results and how they are able to forge a broad coalition for governance reforms across the country", exclaimed Dr. Jampala, Professor and Associate Chairman of Psychiatry at Chicago Medical School, who founded FDRI in 1998.

"There are five ways that NRIs can help in the governance reforms movement", says Rao Chalasani. These include developing a coalition of NRI institutions interested in governance reforms, promoting awareness of the need for governance reforms among opinion makers in US and India, providing financial and in-kind support, research and documentation of best practices along with education and seminars; and promoting positive societal self-confidence of the Indian society.

Manesh Shah, a successful entrepreneur from Detroit and a Director of FDRI, reported that FDRI contributed about $350,000 in the last two years to promoting awareness of governance reforms in India. He described how the small investments in governance reforms could result in a multiple-fold return helping all other philanthropic causes as well.

A lively question and answer session discussing the concept of governance reforms followed the formal presentations.  After the meeting, the core volunteers chalked up action plans for the coming year in the lines of the five tasks for NRIs that FDRI has outlined.

More information about FDRI can be obtained from www.fdri.org or sending an email to fdrimail@yahoo.com or contacting Rao Chalasani at 847-949-6803 or Chowdary Jampala at 847-662-6785.