CCS NOMINATED AS NGO PARTNER FOR TOWN VENDING COMMITTEES IN DELHI

The Street Vendors Act, 2014, provides for the constitution of Town Vending Committees (TVCs) to oversee matters related to street vendors with due representation. The Act requires 10% of the members to be from non-government and community-based organisations. As per the notification issued by Government of NCT of Delhi on 17^th September 2019, Centre for Civil Society (CCS) has been nominated as an NGO member for three TVCs.

We have successfully advocated for the rights and recognition of street vendors and the effective implementation of the Street Vendors Act. Know more about our work here.

PROMOTING THE EASE OF DOING BUSINESS AT THE MARGINS: THE STORY OF ZUBAIR

The annulment of the minimum paid-up capital requirement for registering businesses in India has had a tremendous impact on the lives and life-chances of marginal entrepreneurs, opening up opportunities for them to lift themselves out of poverty.

Highlighting CCS' efforts in advocating for the annulment of the minimum paid-up capital requirement, Atlas Network published a short documentary on Zubair, an IT entrepreneur and his journey to successfully register and grow his business.

Know more about our work on the ease of doing business for marginal entrepreneurs here

IPOLICY FOR YOUNG LEADERS: Building New Leaders with New Ideas

This September, we conducted the ipolicy⁠—our flagship certificate course in public policy in Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, engaging 110 young leaders. Through expert-led sessions and interactive games, the course introduced the participants to principles of sound public policy and foundations of political economy through sessions on Public Choice, Spontaneous Order, Education Policy in India, Economic Freedom of the Poor and Ethical Frameworks of Governance Practices.

Our faculty included Barun Mitra, Founder & Director, Liberty Institute; Anupam Mathur, Assistant Professor, Takshashila; Rohan Joshi, Education Policy Expert; Yazad Jal, Director-Academy, CCS; and Yugank Goyal, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean (Research), Jindal School of Liberal Arts & Humanities, among others.

Conversations on Global Warming and Data Sovereignty

We hosted the Baithak, our monthly conversations in policy, in Bangalore and Hyderabad this month, engaging 37 alumni.

On 14^th September, Mr Chakravarty N, Founder, Centre for Individual Liberty, spoke on the ‘Politics of Global Warming’, in Hyderabad, with a focus on the lack of incentives and will among governments to protect the environment and on the role of robust property rights in regulating pollution. On 18^th September, Nayantara Ranganathan, Programme Manager, the Internet Democracy Project, engaged our alumni on a dialogue on the ‘Ruling and Contested Imaginations of Data Sovereignty in India’, in Bangalore. She discussed concerns about the neutrality of techonology, its role in furthering discrimination, and community-specific and contextual perceptions on privacy.

A Dialogue ON Poverty and the (In)Effectiveness of Aid with Students for Liberty

We partnered with Students For Liberty (India), to host a screening of Poverty Inc, a short documentary that urges a shift from aid to enterprise in developing solutions to poverty. The screening was accompanied by a talk by Kris Mauren, Co-founder, Acton Institute, highlighting the ineffectiveness of aid in reducing poverty, furthering the message of the documentary.

Over 150 law students attended the screening event, held in REVA University, Bengaluru on 17^th September.

A DIALOGUE ON THE STATE OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY

We hosted the 5^th edition of our Facebook Live discussion series 'Spontaneous Dialogue' on the ‘Indian Economic Slow-down’, featuring Dhiraj Nayyar, Chief Economist, Vedanta Ltd. and Mohit Satyanand, Chairman & Founder, Teamwork Arts. Our eminent panelists analysed the state of the Indian economy and potential measures for its revival.

A DIALOGUE WITH JOURNALISTS ON THE NEED FOR A JUDICIAL AUDIT

We ended the month with our monthly dialogue with journalists. Hosted in Lucknow on 27^th September, the dialogue saw participation from 9 journalists from leading publications like Amar Ujjala, Dainik Jagran, TV 24 and Hindustan Times, among others. The dialogue addressed the need to repeal redundant and ineffective laws in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

CCS has consistently campaigned for governmental action to repeal or amend redundant and inconsistent laws that promote red tapism and encumber personal, social and economic freedoms.

Know more about our work on Repeal of Laws here