Bangalore : Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm, on Friday announced a grant of up to USD3M to Janaagraha, a Bangalore-based nonprofit that works to improve the quality of life in India?s cities and towns.
The investment firm?s grant will be used to extend Janaagraha?s successful model of citizen engagement and urban governance to other urban areas in India.
At the recent Clinton Global Initiative, Omidyar Network committed an additional USD 30M over the next three years, and Janaagraha?s is the first grant against that commitment. The grant is also Omidyar Network?s first government transparency grant in India and its largest government transparency grant outside the United States.
?Janaagraha is one of the premier government transparency organizations in India,? said Jayant Sinha, managing director, Omidyar Network India Advisors. ?Omidyar Network is proud to partner with Janaagraha and offer our technology and human capital expertise to help Janaagraha scale their model and online platforms across the world?s largest democracy.?
The grant will also support a national online civic-engagement platform, iJanaagraha, and a bribe-reporting website, ?I paid a bribe.?