Government to launch Reform Utsav to capture citizen suggestions

The ruling government is set to initiate a three-month Reform Utsav campaign aimed at capturing citizen suggestions and driving reforms, according to sources cited by The Indian Express. The campaign is slated to commence on October 2, coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary. The principal objectives of Reform Utsav are to institutionalize reforms through citizen participation and develop a responsive reform pipeline.

Ultimately, the campaign seeks to ensure that citizen voices are captured as suggestions, transformed into actionable reforms, and implemented or progressed on a committed roadmap.

The impetus for the initiative emerged from the NEET paper leak controversy, which prompted the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The Reform Utsav campaign will unfold in three stages: Jan Manthan (discovery), Vimarsh (deliberation), and Samadhan and Sankalp Siddhi (resolution). The discovery phase, commencing on October 2 and spanning a month, will enable citizens to submit their suggestions via a designated online portal.

Supplementary outreach activities, such as public meetings and webinars, will also be conducted. Once suggestions are collected, artificial intelligence (AI) will be employed to categorize them. Additionally, a multilingual call center may be established to facilitate citizen engagement.

During the deliberation phase, known as Vimarsh, the identification of "quick win" reforms and the formulation of a roadmap for structural reforms will be prioritized. The final phase, Samadhan and Sankalp Siddhi, will involve the coordination committee reviewing progress on a bi-weekly basis. Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan will preside over the coordination committee, which has been engaging with chief secretaries to establish state-level bodies and identify nodal officers to oversee the initiative's implementation.