From Checkboxes to Co-Design: Rethinking Public Consultations in India

As public consultations gain greater visibility in Indiarsquos law and policymaking process the question is no longer only whether governments seek feedback but how meaningfully they do so The Civis India Public Consultation Awards CIPCA a flagship initiative by Mumbaibased civic technology organisation Civis recognises exemplary public consultations and helps set standards for more inclusive accessible and accountable governanceCivis hosted the third edition of the Civis Public Consultation Awards CIPCA 2026 in New Delhi bringing together senior policymakers regulators researchers and practitioners to recognise institutions advancing more transparent inclusive and responsive governanceThe Best Consultation ndash Ministry award was presented to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology MeitY for its consultation on the Report on AI Governance Guidelines Development from Public Consultation The Best Consultation ndash State Government category saw a tie with awards going to the Government of Maharashtra for the Draft Maharashtra Factories Amendment Rules 2025 and the Government of Odisha for the Odisha State Data Policy The Best Consultation ndash Statutory Body award went to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI for its consultation on the Regulatory Framework for Groundbased Broadcasters The Special Mention ndash Volume of Consultations was awarded to the International Financial Services Centres Authority IFSCA for integrating consultations across 6637 of its regulatory activityThis year CIPCA assessed 390 public consultations conducted in FY 2024ndash25 from which 45 were shortlisted and 18 nominated across Ministry State Government and Statutory Body categories alongside a Special Mention for sustained consultation volume The jury included Dr KP Krishnan former Secretary Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dr MS Sahoo former Chairperson Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India and Dr Ajay Shah Cofounder XKDR Forum Dr Renuka Sane joined as AmicusThrough its work Civis has now facilitated feedback on over 1000 draft laws and policies gathering more than 8 lakh citizen inputs from 700 cities and towns across India Now in its third edition CIPCA serves not only as a platform to celebrate exemplary consultations but also as a lens on how public institutions are evolving In a policymaking landscape where practices remain uneven the awards spotlight institutions taking consultation seriously while underlining a wider opportunity of not just increasing the number of consultations but building the systems culture and vision to make participatory policymaking more consistent credible and consequential over timeIn this conversation Antaraa Vasudev Founder and CEO of Civis reflects on what these consultations reveal about the evolving culture of public participation in India1 Public consultations in India are often seen as formalities rather than meaningful democratic exercises Whatrsquos your take on it Outside voting civic participation in India is better described as thin and uneven than absent More often there is a gap in awareness of formal opportunities to participate such as public consultations For a long time consultations have functioned as a procedural checkbox draft policies hidden on inaccessible portals uploaded as jargonheavy PDFs with little visibility on what happens to submitted feedbackThat is beginning to change Across public institutions consultations are being designed with greater attention to comprehension access and accountability The landscape remains uneven but there are clear signs that some institutions are taking consultation design more seriously Recognising such early movers is important because it helps set new standards for what good consultation can look like2 What did this yearrsquos Civis India Public Consultation Awards reveal about those emerging standardsThe first is readability Overall 6837 of consultations scored high on comprehension This has taken the form of explanatory notes structured questionnaires and visual aids such as charts tables and illustrations Regulatory bodies such as TRAI and IFSCA included annexures with glossaries of key technical termsThe second trend is inclusion by language Nearly onethird of consultations were published in English and Hindi formats including almost half of those issued by ministries This remains closer to a minimum threshold than a standout practiceThe third trend is the rise of hybrid consultation models More than half of the consultations had two or more avenues for feedback including public hearings and email responses Bodies such as the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission regularly conduct public hearings as part of their consultation processes3 You mentioned language inclusion In a multilingual democracy like India how does that impact accessibilityMeaningful access depends not just on bilingualism but on using languages in which affected communities actually engage The stronger signal this year came from state consultations where 25537 were published in regional languages4 What does the rise of hybrid consultation models tell us about how institutions are approaching participationSome institutions are beginning to respond to the onground reality that different stakeholders participate differently Not everyone will send a written email response Some people may prefer a hearing some may respond better to a structured questionnaire and others may engage more effectively when there are multiple channels availableThis reflects a more responsive understanding of participation itself These are not cosmetic shifts They lower the cost of participation and raise the quality of engagement5 Were there any institutions that stood out particularly strongly this yearOne strong example is the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change MoEFCC Of its 22 consultations last year almost all were bilingual used hybrid feedback channels and remained open for 30 days or more MoEFCC has also been one of the awardsrsquo steadiest performers across editions including nominations for Sustained Excellence and Best Consultation ndash Ministry What stands out is not just volume but consistency in adopting practices that make consultations more accessible and participatory6 What distinguishes a good consultation from a great oneThe strongest sign of a maturing consultation culture is not simply that institutions invite feedback but that they demonstrate how those inputs were assessed and to provide an explanation where they diverged from themSome institutions are creating clearer internal pathways for assessing feedback For instance Ladakhrsquos Housing amp Urban Development Department involved a technical committee before and after the draft was released A few statutory bodies like TRAI CERC and IFSCA routinely publish comments and in some cases countercomments on their websites7 Why does ldquoclosing the looprdquo remain uneven across institutionsIt depends not only on intent but also on time and capacity to process feedback in a structured way Closing the loop makes participation palpable and that is what allows trust to grow But for this culture to deepen institutions also need the capacity practices and infrastructure to engage with public input meaningfully Where those systems are weak or absent even wellintentioned consultations can fall short of accountability So while the idea of participatory governance is gaining ground the administrative architecture needed to support it still needs strengthening8 What still needs to improve in Indiarsquos consultation ecosystemAccessibility can go much further outreach must better reach nonurban and regionalspeaking publics and closing the loop must become standard rather than exceptional Even so the broader trend is an important oneWhen public institutions invest in clearer more inclusive and more accountable consultations they signal that due process matters and that policymaking is not merely procedural but responsiveIn a climate of civic fatigue global uncertainties and growing skepticism such practices help make government more accessible and therefore more worthy of public trust The future of democratic governance depends on that shift away from consultation as compliance and closer to consultation as codesign

From Checkboxes to Co-Design: Rethinking Public Consultations in India

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From Checkboxes to Co-Design: Rethinking Public Consultations in India

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