Strengthening Communities and Building Systems
Fifteen legal reforms for a progressive Karnataka
Summary: This briefing book focusses on reforms that will create the most widespread, on-the-ground change for the citizens of Karnataka while also creating or improving avenues that enable them to excel.
We at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy present our second Briefing Book for the state of Karnataka. This is in keeping with Vidhi’s successful series of briefing books which have contained a host of ideas that have been taken up for action by a number of governmental authorities.
In this second briefing book of suggested legal changes, to strengthen communities, we have chosen three broad themes to structure our suggestions around – education, child development, and women’s empowerment. Some reforms that we suggest are incremental – amending the existing laws on public libraries and the state women’s commission. Other reforms look to build on ideas already in the public domain (rights of women farmers) or seek the creation of entirely new laws (private university regulation).
On systemic and institutional reforms, we have three broad themes– technology, urban development and governance institutions. These too consist of a combination of small and large measures that look to address existing issues (use of government land) and future problems (use of Artificial Intelligence) that the government will have to address.
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About the Authors
Akhileshwari Reddy is a Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi, Karnataka. Her work focuses on the protection of human rights and environment. At Vidhi she has worked on various projects including those on solid waste management, waste picker welfare, urban ground water management and human-wildlife conflict in India. She graduated with a B.A., L.LB (Hons.) degree from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS, Kolkata) in 2016. In 2017, she completed her Masters in Human Rights Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on the Marchant Foundation Scholarship and the LSE Master’s Award. Her articles on human rights issues in India have been published by various Journals. She also regularly contributes to the Deccan Herald, The Wire and Down to Earth. She is an avid reader and especially enjoys reading fantasy fiction.
Alok Prasanna Kumar is Co-Founder and Lead, Vidhi Karnataka. His areas of research include judicial reforms, Constitutional law, urban development, and law and technology. He graduated with a B.A. LL.B. (Hons) from the NALSAR University in 2008 and obtained the BCL from the University of Oxford in 2009. He writes a monthly column for the Economic and Political Weekly and has published in the Indian Journal of Constitutional Law and National Law School of India Review apart from media outlets such as The Hindu, Indian Express, Scroll, Quint and Caravan. He has practiced in the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court from the chambers of Mr Mohan Parasaran, and currently also co-hosts the Ganatantra podcast on IVM Podcasts.
Deepika Kinhal was a Senior Resident Fellow and team Lead for the JALDI (Justice, Access and Lowering Delays in India) initiative at Vidhi which focuses on judicial reforms. She has authored several data-driven research reports seeking to understand systemic issues that plague India’s justice delivery systems. She is now working towards translating the research findings into tangible solutions through interdisciplinary collaborations. Under the aegis of JALDI Innovation Lab, she is leading her team on projects at the intersection of law and other disciplines such as technology, management and design. Deepika has been a part of expert committees constituted by the eCommittee of the Supreme Court of India and NITI Aayog to design a roadmap to improve justice delivery through technology. She has also lead engagements with multiple High Courts aimed at improving their case and court management systems, and has appeared before Parliamentary Standing Committees on Mediation Bill and Judicial Impact Assessment. Deepika graduated from NLSIU, Bengaluru in 2012. Before joining Vidhi, she practiced as a civil-commercial lawyer in Karnataka with Dua Associates, and as a real-estate and capital markets lawyer at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Deepika is trained in Carnatic classical music and has performed for All India Radio and a Kannada movie
Divij Joshi was a Research Fellow at Vidhi.
Shashank Atreya was a Associate Fellow at Vidhi, Bengaluru. He is a graduate of law and business administration. He works primarily with the Karnataka Government to advice various departments in the areas of municipal governance, urban development, urban transport and education. In his past assignments, Shashank worked as an Associate with Chase-India, a public policy consulting firm in Delhi.
