The decade of the nineties saw a paradigm shift in the approach to economic management in India. Independent regulatory bodies were established (and are being established) to perform functions that were hitherto executed by the line Ministry/Department to bring transparency, participation and consultation in the decision- making process.

However, the experience garnered thus far shows that there is lack of coherence in the overall regulatory framework that has been established. There is no overarching view of how a regulatory body should function and how the regulatory process should work. In particular, the creation of independent regulators has raised fundamental issues concerning their autonomy and accountability, which remain largely unaddressed.

CUTS C-CIER was motivated by Shri Yashwant Sinha, Member of Parliament, and former Finance Minister of the country, to take up these fundamental issues before a heterogeneous group of opinion leaders to facilitate a serious debate and suggest measures to strike the right balance in the system.

It was decided that CUTS would organise a series of 3 dialogues on the issue - Regulatory Autonomy and Accountability. The first two rounds of the retreat was organised on May 7th and July 23rd respectively, and certain recommendations emerged following the discourse.

The detailed (draft) recommendation that emerged from the first two rounds is available here.

These recommendations would be discussed at the final round of the retreat, and finalised for submission to the government, subsequently.

For further details contact:

Vinayak R Pandey
CUTS International
Email: c-cier@cuts.org
Cell: +91 98292 85932