Dr Jayaprakash Narayan is a physician by training and served as a member of the Indian Administrative Service for 16 years. He had a tremendously successful tenure and held many important positions in the government of South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. During the course of his service, he acquired deep insights into the Indian governance process and the problems afflicting the nation.

Convinced of the need for radical reforms to transform Indian governance process, Dr Narayan left the civil services in 1996 and with likeminded colleagues founded the Foundation for Democratic Reforms (FDR) and Lok Satta - a people's movement for governance and political reforms. Since then Foundation for Democratic Reforms (FDR) and Lok Satta have emerged as the leading civil society initiatives for governance reforms. FDR and Lok Satta have played a crucial role in driving several reforms over the years, and are now focused on true federalism and effective and accountable local governments, rule of law, education, healthcare and agriculture. Dr Narayan served as a member the National Advisory Council (NAC), Second Administrative Reforms and Vigilance Advisory Council.