CYSD marks 44 years, calls for collaborative governance to tackle development challenges
By B.Swagatika
Bhubaneswar, March 24: “Government institutions alone cannot handle today’s complex development challenges. Collaboration is essential for effective governance and sustainable development,” said Shri Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, Chairperson, Committee on Administrative and Governance Reforms, Government of Odisha, and Former Chief Secretary, Odisha. He was delivering the 44thFoundation Day Lecture of the Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD) here on Tuesday.
Speaking on “Collaborative Governance: Ethical Hacking of Governance from Bureaucrats,”Mohapatra emphasised the need to reimagine governance systems to address increasingly complex and interconnected development challenges.Hepresented India’s development trajectory, including sustained economic growth of around 6.5 percent, a sharp decline in extreme poverty to 2.3 percent and significant advances in digital public infrastructure and service delivery.
However, persistent challenges such as rising inequality including gender inequality, inadequate job creation, climate vulnerability, lack of significant agricultural productivity and gaps in the quality of education and healthcare still exist, he underlined. These are “wicked problems”that cannot be addressed through traditional, siloed governance models.
Mohapatra called for partnerships between government, civil society, communities and the private sector in both decision-making and implementation.He highlighted that a structured collaboration enhances responsiveness, accountability and transparency, while also building trust and strengthening democratic processes.
Delivering the welcome address, Shri. Jagadananda, Mentor & Co-Founder, CYSD said, “This Foundation Day is a celebration of the engagement and leadership of community members. It is a demonstration of collective strength and a pathway towards a just society.”
Emphasising value-based social transformation, he noted that CYSD remains closely connected with community aspirations while engaging with local, state, national and global stakeholders.He highlighted CYSD’s focus on climate-resilient livelihoods, reducing distress migration and strengthening youth leadership in tribal regions through structured engagement programmes.
In his remarks, Dr. Rajesh Tandon, UNESCO Chair on Community-Based Participatory Research and Chairperson, CYSD, emphasised the critical role of awareness in enabling people to access their rights and entitlements. He stressed the importance of advancing rights-based approaches for community members including women. “Governance should be led by people themselves, as they have the ability to shape their own development,” he said.
Citing CYSD’s long-standing work, he noted that the organisation exemplifies participatory development across rural, urbanand tribal contexts.
Among others, around 100community members, including tribal women farmers, sarpanchesand local youth leaders, from 1,338 villages across 314 Gram Panchayats in 31 blocks of 12 districts joined the Foundation Day event.
Founded in 1982, CYSD has played a significant role in promoting participatory development, policy research and civil society- state engagement in Odisha over the last four decades.
