Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) is a Non-Political, Non-Partisan and a Non-Governmental Organization. It was founded in August 1, 1999 by a group of Professors from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad and National Institute of Design and some alumni of IIM to work towards strengthening democracy and governance in India by focusing on fair and transparent electoral processes.

It came into being with the filing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court asking for mandatory disclosure of criminal, financial and educational backgrounds of candidates contesting elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures, prior to the polls. The Delhi High Court in 2001 gave a judgment in favour of ADR and the same was challenged by the Government in the Supreme Court. Several political parties also intervened in the matter opposing the Delhi High Court's judgment. After a long hearing, the Supreme Court in a land mark judgment upheld the High Court Judgment and directed the Election Commission to issue orders making it mandatory for candidates contesting elections to Parliament and state assemblies to submit affidavits along with their nomination papers giving information about criminal cases pending against them, if any; financial assets of the candidate, his/her spouse and dependents; financial liabilities and educational qualifications of the candidate. In a bid to dilute the full effect of the judgment, the Government issued an Ordinance amending the Representation of the People's Act, 1951, partially implementing only the Supreme Court directions. ADR challenged this ordinance and amendment act before the Supreme Court. In September 2003, the Supreme Court struck down the amendment as unconstitutional and restored its earlier directions. Several State Election Commissions have also passed orders making such declarations mandatory even for Panchayat/local bodies' elections.

After having functioned as an Association of Persons for a little less than four years, ADR was registered as a Trust and a Society on April 17, 2003 under the Trusts and Societies Registration Acts applicable in Gujarat .

ADR, at present runs twin programme-a) Electoral Reforms b) Political Process Reforms. Having spearheaded the campaign for electoral reform, ADR continues to work in this field and monitors the election process in the entire country with the aid of its network partners. Apart from that, ADR is also engaged in political process reform with a view to generate greater transparency in polity and to strengthen democratic institutions in the country.

The mission statement

The genesis of ADR in 1999 lies in the background of an ever increasing concern in almost all the sections of Indian society on the issues relating to proliferation of criminalization and unethical practices during the election process. Initial initiatives of ADR leading to the landmark judgement by the Apex Court of the country in its favour on a petition filed by it for disclosure of information relating to the criminal antecedents and assets of candidates in the elections set the tone for the long term mission of the Organization. The stated mission of ADR today is “improving and strengthening democracy in India ”

Objectives

• To work actively towards Electoral Reforms and Reform of the Government and the Bureaucracy
• To work towards strengthening Right to Information as a tool and facilitate the process towards greater transparency of those in power
• To mobilize public opinion and facilitate a dialogue between policy makers and the civil society and to work towards empowerment of ordinary citizens

To further our efforts in these areas, we will work with the Government, Courts, the Election Commission, Political Parties, Elected Representatives, Candidates contesting elections, the Press, Media, Citizens and other Organizations.