Oct 11 2025 to Oct 11 2025 11 a.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

The Bengaluru Debates: A BIC–Janaagraha Dialogue Series on Urban Governance in Bengaluru and Beyond aims to expand civic space in the city by fostering conversations through a civic lens. The series is designed to be informative, constructive, and entertaining, while also serving as a trigger for local community action. Its objective is to bridge the gap between policy, practice, and public discourse on urban governance challenges, and to catalyse citizen and policymaker engagement towards systemic solutions.

The inaugural session will examine: “Can the GBG Act deliver for Bengaluru?”. Enacted in 2025, the GBG Act is a landmark legislation intended to strengthen Bengaluru’s governance. This session will assess whether the Act can deliver on its promise and what it means for the future of the city.

The programme will feature a city-systems assessment of the GBG Act, followed by a 45-minute panel discussion and an interactive audience Q&A. The panellists are Mr. V Ravichander, Civic Evangelist and member of the GBG Act Advisory Committee, Shri Tejasvi Surya MP – Bangalore South and Shri Rizwan Arshad MLA – Shivajinagar. Mr. Srikanth Viswanathan, CEO of Janaagraha, will moderate the discussion. 

Through this series, BIC and Janaagraha seek to build a widely followed platform for civic dialogue, citizen awareness, and informed media narratives on urban issues.

In collaboration with:

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, founded in 2001 in Bengaluru, is dedicated to transforming the quality of life in India’s cities and towns. Their mission is to strengthen the systems of urban governance so that cities can deliver clean, green, safe, and liveable environments for all citizens. For them, “quality of life” is not only about infrastructure and services, but equally about responsive institutions, citizen engagement, and transparent, data-driven governance.

Speakers

Tejasvi Surya
Member of Parliament, Bengaluru South
Shri Tejasvi Surya is a two-term Member of Parliament representing Bengaluru South. Among the youngest MPs in the Lok Sabha, he has quickly established himself as a prominent voice on issues shaping the future of Bengaluru. A lawyer by training, he has consistently raised questions of urban governance, mobility, infrastructure, and civic reform, positioning himself as one of the city’s most visible advocates in Parliament.
Shri Surya has served on parliamentary committees including Law and Justice and Information Technology, and has been at the forefront of debates linking Bengaluru’s technological edge with the need for better city systems. Known for his energetic interventions, he has worked to highlight Bengaluru’s urban challenges while pushing for reforms that can strengthen its governance and sustain its role as India’s innovation capital.

Rizwan Arshad
Member of the Legislative Assembly, Shivajinagar Constituency, Bengaluru
Shri Rizwan Arshad is a two-term Member of the Legislative Assembly from Shivajinagar constituency in Bengaluru. A Congress leader with long-standing engagement in the city’s civic and political landscape, he has emerged as a prominent voice on issues of urban development, mobility, and inclusivity in governance. In his tenure, he has consistently spoken up on the everyday challenges faced by Bengaluru’s residents from traffic congestion and waste management to equitable access to public services. He has also been vocal on the need to balance Bengaluru’s rapid growth with social justice, affordable housing, and liveability for all communities.
With deep roots in the city and a strong connect to its civic concerns, Arshad brings the perspective of a legislator grounded in Bengaluru’s realities, advocating for systemic reforms that put citizens at the centre of governance.

Srikanth Viswanathan
Chief Executive Officer, Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy
Srikanth Viswanathan is Chief Executive Officer of Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, where he steers the organisation’s strategy and oversees its programmes on city-systems reform across India. Srikanth has led pioneering initiatives in municipal finance, urban planning, and local governance. Under his leadership, Janaagraha has positioned itself as a thought leader on strengthening urban local bodies, shaping policy conversations on property tax reform, municipal bonds, participatory budgeting, and decentralised governance. He has been closely engaged with state and city governments, finance commissions, and multilateral institutions to embed systemic reforms in urban governance.

An advocate for strengthening India’s city-systems, Srikanth writes and speaks extensively on the future of India’s cities, emphasising the need for empowered local governments to deliver better quality of life for citizens and enhance economic competitiveness.

V Ravichander
Civic Evangelist
V Ravichander is a civic evangelist with decades of engagement in shaping Bengaluru’s governance and civic landscape. He was a member of the Brand Bengaluru Committee that drafted the Greater Bengaluru Governance (GBG) Bill and continues to advise on its implementation. Earlier, he played a key role in the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF), one of the city’s pioneering experiments in public–private partnership for urban reforms.

Mr. Ravichander has consistently championed participatory governance and institutional reform, working to bridge the gap between citizens, government, and business. His initiatives have ranged from improving ward-level governance to influencing city-wide reforms in infrastructure, planning, and accountability.

VR Vachana
Associate Director, Janaagraha
Vachana is a public policy professional committed to transforming how India’s cities are governed. She is currently an Associate Director – Policy, anchoring policy and engagement on land, planning, and urban design within the broader context of urban governance at Jana Urban Space and Janaagraha. Her work spans urban policy research, thought leadership, and systemic policy engagements. She headed the Municipal Law and Policy Program at Janaagraha, where she anchored the Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems (ASICS), India’s flagship report on urban governance, and its associated reform engagements with state and city governments. She also seeded the City Leaders Program to strengthen the leadership of women councillors. She also teaches, trains, writes, and speaks regularly on urban governance. She holds a Master’s in Development (specializing in Public Policy) from Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, and a Certificate in Policy and Leadership Development from the Moller Institute, University of Cambridge. In 2021, she represented India in the British Council’s Future Leaders Connect program.