Over the past one decade or so, advocacy and lobbying have gained a central place among the instruments of intervention in matters of public affairs, covering a wide range of issues including good governance, human rights, social justice and public private partnership. However, the approach to advocacy and lobbying has varied significantly depending on the issue under consideration and the socio-political scenario in a country.

In India, the approach profoundly used by civil society organisations and citizens groups in the arena of public affairs and policy engagement has either been street politics or through courts using Public Interest Litigation. In some cases, such as in child labour and dalit human rights international lobbying with UN agencies and donor organisations have also proved successful. Some of the campaigns which used above mentioned approaches have been quite successful, and some have not been so successful. However, even in cases, where there have eminent success based on the struggle approach, now a need is felt to graduate to a different level whereby the positive results could be firmly grounded leading to lasting solutions of the problems. In order for that to happen it is important that different actors/stakeholders involved in the process seek cooperation with each other and with the public sector, and therefore, the advocacy approach needed to be supported by lobbying. It is against this background, that IPAC conceived a combined approach of grassroots activism with non- profit lobbying.