Building bridges in policy implementation during a pandemic: insights from an e-survey on Indian Producer Organisations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite the widely acknowledged importance of consultative policymaking, interventions to encourage stakeholder participation remain scarce. The presence of exigencies, such as the pandemic, can further normalise the lack of participative processes unless serious alternatives are presented. This paper presents the results of an exercise, during the pandemic, on Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) through an e-survey of stakeholders whose views, if considered, could have avoided some of the implementation gaps and challenges before the rollout. The survey process demonstrates how facilitated and well-designed consultations can enable a better buy-in in policy implementation and importantly help build state capacity through such processes, despite the pandemic. The paper also highlights the need for scholars and citizens to pay greater attention to the everydayness of policy implementation beyond presenting critiques of policy formulation.