Guv inaugurates conference on delivering democracy

SHILLONG, June 19: The Regional Round Table Conference on ‘Delivering Democracy – Retrospect and Prospect’ was inaugurated by Governor Phagu Chauhan at Raj Bhavan here on Monday.
The Round Table Conference was organised by Amazing Namaste Foundation and supported by Civil 20 working group to seek suggestions from the grassroots level through discussion to strengthen participatory democracy and inclusive governance in the Northeastern region.
Speaking on the occasion, the Governor lauded the initiatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in increasing the participation of civil society organisations in strengthening democracy in different regions through Civil-20 under G-20.
Highlight the workings of the traditional local administration systems which are still maintained in Meghalaya under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, the Governor stated that besides maintaining peace and security at the local level, the village Dorbar plays an important role in implementing government schemes at the grassroots level, particularly in places where the government machinery cannot reach.
In his address, Executive Director, GRAAM India Co-ordinator C20 Delivering Democracy Working Group, Dr Basavaraju R Shrestha, gave a brief outline on the importance and purpose of the roundtable conference while highlighting the importance of documenting the case studies of the democratic practices in our country.
Chairman of Amazing Namaste Foundation, Atul Kulkarni, in his welcome address, spoke about various successful models of governance at the grassroots practiced in the NER.
Amazing Namaste Foundation has been actively working with various CSOs functioning in the region.
The topics covered during the Conference included youth and democracy, people participation and grassroots democracy, civic and social engagement, digital democracy etc.