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New PTF Affiliate Established in India

The Partnership for Transparency Fund (PTF), an international non-profit that supports citizen-led action to promote transparency and accountability in developing countries, is pleased to announce the establishment of a new affiliate in South Asia, Partners for Transparency Foundation India (PTF-India).

PTF-India was officially registered in Delhi on 13 May 2016 under the auspices of establishing Board of Directors Santosh Bhargava, Rathi Jha, Sudipto Mundle, Rajat Nag, Rahul Raturi and Indira Sandilya. PTF-India will support its sister organizations by seeking to fulfill its stated mission to “promote and advocate good governance, accountability and transparency by encouraging participation of citizens and civil society” and “support grass root level initiatives undertaken by members of the civil society across the country and strengthen the effectiveness of good governance.”

The new office in Delhi brings PTF’s global footprint to four offices, complementing its existing presence in Washington, Munich and Manila.

“We’ve supported more projects in India than any other country in the world, reflecting both the enormous need, and the opportunity. With a little funding and advice, the progress our partners achieved in India was truly incredible, making it clear that the movement and its momentum should be sustained. That’s exactly what we hope to accomplish through the establishment of PTF-India,” said PTF President Richard Stern.

One of PTF’s largest programs, Citizens Against Corruption (CAC), funded 14 CSOs across four Indian states whose projects covered more than 1,000 villages and close to 90,000 households from 2010-2013. These projects ranged from monitoring corruption in the public health sector, educating communities on applying for entitlements, to obtaining work and ration cards. Independent evaluations found that the program was extremely effective at enhancing the transparency of public services and bodies.

PTF-India is expected to better support operations across the South Asia region, following on past successes in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, including PTF’s flagship Citizen Action for Results, Transparency and Accountability (CARTA) program. CARTA offers a unique method of increasing the impact of development projects and reducing risk through independent beneficiary monitoring.

“We at PTF India look forward to working closely with colleagues in the PTF family and like-minded citizens in India, the region and indeed the world to learn from each other and look at ways service delivery, transparency, accountability – in other words good governance – at various levels and of various stakeholders can be enhanced for the benefit of all,” said the PTF India Board of Directors.

PTF-India is expected to significantly strengthen PTF’s impact in South Asia. We invite you to join us in our effort to support citizen demand for good governance throughout the region. E-mail info@indiaptf.org for more information on programs and partnerships.