Public participation in formal deliberative forums in India: who participates and why?

Abstract

The Indian electricity sector has gone through several structural and regulatory readjustments since 1991 and one of the fundamental changes includes creation of a new apolitical space for decision-making through formal public participation forums. Theory of social democracy explores the nature of balance struck among three components of social order, namely, the society, the market and the state, and contends that a sound governance judgment can be cultivated only within a representative society. We explore this contention through preliminary investigative research on the quality of participation, participation representative and motivation of the citizens to participate, through a primary survey of 900 electricity consumers in India. The results confirm that the institutionalization of public deliberation structures has, to some extent, had the expected effect of encouraging consumers to take active engagement with the industry. Two issues stand out as significant. One, homemakers, government employees and academicians, and traditionally passive consumers are seen to have a significant presence. Two, perceived positive characteristics associated with the new alternative structures get emphasized as the lead motivation for several groups to participate. The results are discussed using the theory of social democracy and the article concludes by highlighting possible avenues for policy enquiry.

Keywords:

• electricity industry reforms
• India
• public participation
• new participants

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Institute for International Education for their financial and technical support for this research. Sincere thanks are also due to Cresencia Maurer, Prayas, Pune and the various engineering college professors and students who have actively contributed towards the survey.

Notes

1.The questionnaire is part of the surveys developed by the Electricity Distribution Indicator Toolkit team in which the author's team participated.

2.Urban development policy for Karnataka, Urban Development Department, Government of Karnataka, 2009.