Regulation for New Realities: A Cross-Sectoral Analysis during COVID-19

In September 2020, we launched our Researching Reality Compendium. COVID-19 has made apparent the need for changes in the way the government regulates various sectors. Supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), through our Researching Reality Internship, we documented how some critically affected sectors are trying to adapt to the changing circumstances, but are fettered by the regulatory framework. We examined seven areas: health, education, labour, agriculture, technology enterprises, philanthropy and professional certification.

We hosted a panel discussion on ‘Regulation for New Realities: A Cross-Sectoral Analysis during COVID-19’, to mark the launch. The panel discussion focused on outmoded regulations and the impact of COVID-19 on public policy. Our panellists included Bhuvana Anand, Director-RR, Centre for Civil Society (CCS); Rishi Agarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, Avantis Regtech and Amol Kulkarni, Director - Research, CUTS International. The session was moderated by Yazad Jal, Director - Academy, CCS.

CCS Campus Talks: ‘How liberal is India’s Constitution?’ and ‘India's Tryst with Central Planning

Centre for Civil Society and IndianLiberals.in, conducted two virtual Campus Talks this September, supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.

Conducted in collaboration with Students for the Promotion of International Law, Mumbai, for our first campus talk Prashant Narang, Associate Director - Research, CCS spoke on ‘How liberal is India’s Constitution?’. The discussion explored the concept of liberalism within the Indian Constitutional framework and discussed the challenges associated with constitutional liberalism and the ways in which they affect contemporary public policy.

For our second talk, in collaboration with Commercium - St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, Dr. Rajeswari Sengupta, Assistant Professor, Economics, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai spoke on ‘India's Tryst with Central Planning’. The session discussed India’s central planning model analysing the ways in which it has affected India's growth story.

Pandemic and Street Vendors

In this episode of our SO Basically series, we discuss how the lockdown has affected street vendors and the Government's attempts to help them.

Roughly 2.5% of India’s population is engaged in street vending. For several decades post-independence vendors faced harassment, extortion and eviction at the hands of local authorities and have found little respite from courts either. In 2014, the Parliament of India passed the Street Vendors Act to protect the livelihood rights and social security of urban street vendors. However, there are several gaps in the implementation of this act, making it difficult for vendors, as nano-entrepreneurs, to do business, especially during the pandemic.

Launch of the Hindi edition of Public Choice: A Primer

Centre for Civil Society and Azadi.me launched the book 'Sarwajanik Chayan: Ek Prarambhika', the Hindi edition of ‘Public Choice: A Primer’ by Eamonn Butler. The public Choice theory applies economic principles to political decision making. In the market-place, the assumption is that the behaviour of people is primarily motivated by self-interest. This assumption stands true for public choice theorists - that people in the political market are also primarily driven by self-interest.

Public Choice: A Primer ['Sarwajanik Chayan: Ek Prarambhika'] discusses how the concept of public choice can be applied to design a political system that has balance and restraint. This approach has given us important insights into the nature of democratic decision-making. We believe that the Hindi translation of this book will bring forth new learning and insights for many Hindi-speaking policy makers and influencers.

Do the farm bills benefit the farmers?

Three farm bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha, recently. A wave of protests and media conversations have questioned the undemocratic way in which these bills were passed. The most important question to be asked here is – do these bills actually benefit the farmers? Our article ‘ Do the farm bills benefit the farmers?’, argues that these three bills aim to achieve more choice and freedom for our farmers.