BusinessWire India
New Delhi [India], March 6: Civis, supported by Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Indian School of Public Policy, and Shri Vinay Toshniwal Memorial Trust, hosted the 2nd edition of Civis' Public Consultation Awards (CIPCA 2025) on March 5, 2025. The initiative honors ministries, state governments, and statutory bodies for their exemplary efforts in conducting democratic, transparent, and inclusive public consultations in lawmaking. Bringing together luminaries from public administration, governance, and policy-making, CIPCA 2025 aims to foster discourse on participatory governance and highlight exemplary public consultations that have facilitated meaningful citizen engagement in the lawmaking process.
The event witnessed participation of distinguished experts from governance and policy research, including, Dr. K. P. Krishnan, Former Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship; Shri P. K. Malhotra, Former Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice; Dr. Deepak Mohanty, Chairman, PFRDA; Shri Adil Zainulbhai, Chairperson, Capacity Building Commission, and Snehlata Shrivastava, Former Secretary General, Lok Sabha and Jury Member, Civis' Public Consultation Awards among others.
Speaking at the event, Antaraa Vasudev, Founder, Civis, emphasized the critical role of public consultations in shaping effective governance, "In 2025, the awards have recorded a 60.8% increase in public consultations, not just in number, but our consultations have scored higher on quality indicators as well - for example 71.4% consultations were available in more than one language. This underscores the importance of creating a robust methodology to measure consultations - and the importance of putting the spotlight on best practices - both of which Civis' Public Consultation Awards aim to do."
In the category of 'Best Consultation: Ministry', the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change stood as winner for the public consultation on Draft Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Amendment Rules, 2023.
In the category of 'Best Consultation: State', the Government of Kerala stood as winner for the public consultation on Draft Kerala IT Policy 2023.
In the category of 'Best Consultation: Statutory Body', the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) stood as winner for the public consultation on Draft Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (Terms and Conditions of Tariff) Regulations, 2024.
In the category of 'Special Mention for Citizen Government Engagement, the Food Safety and Standards Authority India (FSSAI) stood as winner for the public consultation on Draft Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Amendment Regulations, 2023.
In the category of 'Special Mention for Responsive Governance', we have two winners which are The Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the public consultation on Draft CCI (Lesser Penalty) Regulations 2023 and The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) for the public consultation on Draft Amendments to the PFRDA (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) Regulations, 2015.
Over the past decade, the number of policies and laws undergoing public consultation in India has increased by 2112.5% since 2014. While this growth is commendable, ensuring the quality and inclusiveness of these consultations remains a priority. Civis launched the Public Consultation Awards in 2024 to evaluate the effectiveness of public consultations across ten key metrics. These metrics include the quality of the consultation document (measured by the presence of factors like the justification for the new policy, impact assessment, readability), extent of outreach conducted, duration for which the policy was open to feedback, presence of translations and transparency concerning responses received.
These metrics have been developed using internationally recognized frameworks, including India's Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy, OECD guidelines, and the UN Public Consultation Index, in collaboration with a panel of experts including Dr. M. S. Sahoo, Founding Chairperson, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI); Dr. Ajay Shah, Senior Research Fellow and Co-founder, XKDR Forum; Smt. Snehalata Srivastava, Former Secretary General, Lok Sabha and TrustBridge Rule of Law Foundation.
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