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Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) was founded in 1999 by professors from IIM Ahmedabad and the National Institute of Design. It focuses on electoral transparency, political party accountability, and civic engagement, combining litigation, research, and citizen mobilisation.

ADR's landmark contribution was a Public Interest Litigation that led to Supreme Court orders in 2002–2003 requiring candidates for election to disclose their criminal, financial, and educational backgrounds via affidavits — a major structural change to how Indian voters access information about candidates.

Key programs

  • National Election Watch (NEW) — a coalition of 1,200+ NGOs monitoring elections across India
  • MyNeta.info — open-data platform providing searchable candidate disclosure data (criminal records, assets, liabilities, education) for MPs, MLAs, and candidates
  • Political Party Watch — analysis of financial transparency and income/expenditure of political parties