Secretary, Social Welfare, Limawabang Jamir, IAS ; DC Kohima B Henok Buchem, NCS and officials during the sensitisation meeting on Reform Utsav at DC Office, Kohima on September 11. (DIPR Photo)
Kohima, September 11 (MExN): A sensitisation programme on Reform Utsav, a citizen-driven initiative aimed at identifying and implementing systemic reforms through public participation, was held in Kohima on September 11.
The programme was convened by State Nodal Officer for Kohima District, Limawabang Jamir, IAS, Secretary, Social Welfare, to sensitise Heads of Departments and create awareness about the objectives and implementation of the time-bound, outcome-oriented campaign.
Jamir said Reform Utsav seeks to institutionalise a bottom-up approach to governance by sourcing, deliberating on and implementing reform suggestions from citizens, with emphasis on procedural and structural changes having wider public impact.
The initiative follows a whole-of-government approach involving the Centre and states and provides a mechanism to take genuine suggestions from citizens through to implementation.
A presentation by Theodre Yanthan, Joint Secretary, Social Welfare, outlined three broad phases of the campaign — Jan Manthan (Discover), Vimarsh (Deliberate) and Jan Samadhan (Deliver).
The Jan Manthan phase will begin on October 2, 2026, with the launch of the Reform Utsav portal through which citizens can submit suggestions for systemic reforms. Awareness activities, including Jan Sabhas, community outreach and public mobilisation programmes, will also be conducted.
During Vimarsh, departments will examine and deliberate on suggestions to identify actionable reforms. These will be categorised into quick-win and medium-term reforms, with inter-departmental matters taken up through the appropriate coordination mechanism.
Jan Samadhan will focus on implementing identified quick-win reforms and initiating medium-term reforms through defined roadmaps. Progress will be monitored and updated through the Reform Utsav portal.
The state-level coordination mechanism has recommended that all districts constitute district-level committees for effective implementation. The committees will include representatives of relevant public organisations, Urban Local Bodies and Chief Executive Officers of municipal councils, among others.
The district-level mechanism will focus on awareness, participation of departments and stakeholders, and soliciting reform suggestions from elected representatives.
The meeting stressed that Reform Utsav is aimed not merely at addressing individual grievances but at identifying systemic issues and workable solutions with wider public benefit. Suggestions are expected to address systemic causes, have applicability beyond individual cases, be scalable and offer constructive solutions.
The campaign will be followed by Sankalp Siddhi in December 2026, providing an opportunity to showcase reforms undertaken and outcomes achieved at the national, state and district levels.
The overall objective is to capture citizens' voices as suggestions, convert them into actionable reforms and implement them or place them on a committed roadmap for implementation.
