Nagarpedia: Citizens Enabling Knowledge

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Nagarpedia: Citizens Enabling Knowledge

According to the Census done in 2011, there are 4041 cities or towns in India that are governed by an urban local body or city government. Wikipedia has pages for approximately 2,539 cities and towns across the country. About 2/3rd of India’s 4041 cities have a Wikipedia page but 90% percent of those pages have very little information. Through Nagarpedia, Nagrika has been creating knowledge that can enable citizens across small cities with the belief that augmenting knowledge regarding small cities enables not just policy makers and businesses but also citizens, by providing a fuller representation of all the dimensions of a city.

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When in doubt, go to a library. But where are they?

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When in doubt, go to a library. But where are they?

We are still a long way in India to making public libraries central to our urban existence. According to the 2011 census, India has only 4,580 libraries in urban areas, which roughly translates to one urban library for over 80,000 people. When you break down the types of libraries by sizes of towns, the picture is even more jarring. For our largest cities this number is dismal - one public library for almost 22 lakh people! The smallest of our towns which have the highest density of public libraries also have only one library for every 25000 people. As per the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) standards, there should be one public library for every 3,000 people.

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