What if I were to tell you, that Civis is a process... not an organisation?
Antaraa Vasudev
Founder at Civis | Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia | Civic Tech | Governance
The word 'Civis' comes from the latin root of some of my favourite things - citizen, civilisation, civil society, civil services... and the list goes on!
In many ways, the plurality of the name, reflects the reason for our existence. Civis, started out with the idea of building trust among citizens and governments. Owing to my own professional exposure in the field, and first hand understanding of how Governments function, the thought arose to work on building trust - but through existing channels which foster colaboration.
This sounds like a big, amorphus idea - but stay with me as I break it down!
As citizens, we each have a set of 'super-powers' which enable us to engage with the State effectively. One of our lesser known super-powers allows us to engage with lawmaking process in India. How, you ask?
In 2014, the 'Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy' was introduced by the Government of India. This law ensures that draft laws are opened for public feedback before they are finalized and introduced in Parliament, through a process known as public consultation.
Public consultation is a simple process of gathering feedback, opinions and suggestions from the general public on proposed laws, policies, projects and other vital issues, before they are passed.
This process allows us to share our lived experiences with lawmakers, so that our voices are heard by lawmakers, at the right time!
It's been almost a decade since this policy was passed, and it comes at the heels of many similar intiatives in the past, but some gaps still exist, preventing us from excercising our super powers effectively.
To effectively use our super power, we need to:
No one likes to SUFR, so we thought of making the process a little easier.
At Civis, we:
We work with an incredible group of policy leaders, who help us make sense of different laws and policies. Alongside our partners, we use technology to help us gather feedback effectively.
This ranges from low-tech interventions like a phone call or WhatsApp - to gather feedback, to advanced technology like AI to optimise our processes.
All of these little pieces come together to help us share tangible, concrete action points with governments, that build inclusive policies, for us and with us.
Laws come out on all kinds of topics, ranging from climate change, to accessibility, to women's rights - and each one of has a say in this process!
Take for example, this feedback collected on the Draft Rajasthan Code on Wages Rules, 2021 from a worker at a manufacturing unit, by our partner Gramvaani:
In the last 5 years, our voices have made a phenomenal impact:
All of these examples have been wins that we've had, by making our voice heard!
If this sounds to you, like the work of an organisation - you're not entirely wrong. So why is it then, that we're calling this a process?
At Civis, our audacious endgame is to ensure that inclusive policies are made, with every citizen of India. To bring this to life, its important that we enrich the process of public consultation, and create the conditions for more innovation. All of this, will enable communities and governments to adopt the process of consultation - making it their own, and enabling it in their own ways!
At Civis, we may be building the path, and highlighting some of the examples of how this process can be run - but, the true potential of consultation comes when each of us, adopt it - and make it our own.
To share your feedback on a draft law open for comments, head on over to www.civis.vote. Support our work today, by making a donation at this link.