Voices from the commons: integrating effective community participation in the policy process In India and beyond

Common property resources (CPRs) often are one of the most common means of sustenance and livelihood for the poorest. Community land used for grazing, groundwater used for irrigation and domestic use, forest land for product collection, etc., are some examples of CPRs crucial for rural livelihood, but their management is often informal. There is extensive literature (Essa 2020; Cox et al. 2010; Rose 2002) on the type of institutions or rules
needed for effective community management of CPRs. Government policies aimed at managing CPRs typically lack meaningful grassroots involvement, often adopting a top-down approach in their formulation. This results in the misalignment of grassroots organisations and communities from decision-making processes, particularly in policies concerning CPRs. However, to be inclusive, policies on ‘commons’ must be participatory and bottom-up in formulation, implementation, and evaluation.

Community and civil society organisation (CSO) participation in rural development (RD) policies is slowly gaining traction in India. Most policies, though, do not include them in decision-making at any level and primarily see communities as beneficiaries and CSOs as external agencies with little bearing on the policy process. However, recent efforts to increase people’s participation in policymaking through initiatives like the Framework for Citizen
Engagement in e-Governance (DeitY 2011) call for a translation to tangible processes and frameworks for community participation in the policy processes. There is, thus, a need for setting up institutional pathways for more effective community participation in the policy process.

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