Quest for Good Governance: Contribution and Potential of Religious Institutions as Stakeholders

Participation of popular stakeholders, especially private sector, industry, and NGO's has often been emphasized in all-inclusive principles of governance that has tended to marginalize contribution of many other civil society institutions. This research focuses on religious institutions as civil society members from a particular dimension of governance: management of resources, decision making and actions by stakeholders based on their ideological and functional roles. Such an approach is significant in an environmental context, where roles of stakeholders are much more visible, clearer and interdependent. This paper explores the role of Hindu religious institutions in environmental management on two pilgrim towns in India, Vrindavan and Tirumala-Tirupati and seeks to exemplify their importance in environmental sustainability.