3

CUTS CITEECUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS CITEE), established in 1996 atJaipur, India aims to be a high-level global standard institution for research and advocacy onmultilateral trade and sustainable development issues. Email: citee@cuts.org

CUTS CARTCUTS Centre for Consumer Action, Research & Training (CUTS CART) established in 1996 at Jaipur,India works towards enabling people, especially women and other disadvantaged groups of society toassert their rights so that they can achieve the right to basic needs and sustainable developmentthrough a strong consumer movement. Email: cart@cuts.org

CUTS CHDCUTS Centre for Human Development (CUTS CHD), established in 1990 at village Senti, districtChittorgarh, Rajasthan, India seeks to empower rural people, especially women and disadvantagedgroups of society through innovative strategies of social action. Email: chd@cuts.org

CUTS CCIERCUTS Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation (CUTS CCIER) was established in2003, Jaipur, India to be a centre of excellence on regulatory issues, with focus on competition,investment and economic regulation. Email: c-cier@cuts.org

CUTS CRC

CUTS Calcutta Resource Centre established in 1987 has a unique feature of working simultaneously onConsumer Safety and Grassroots Economic Development. Email: calcutta@cuts.org

CUTS DRCCUTS Delhi Resource Centre (CUTS DRC) was established in 2003 in New Delhi, India, to act as thefocal point for CUTS’ advocacy, outreach and external relations. The objective of opening DRC was tofeed the work being done at the national level by other centres of CUTS, particularly at Chittorgarh,Kolkata and Jaipur into policy level interventions. Email: delhi@cuts.org

CUTS ARCCUTS Africa Resource Centres at Lusaka, Zambia and Nairobi, Kenya were established in the year2000 and 2003, respectively to function as resource, coordination as well as networking centres topromote South-South co-operation on trade and development. Email: lusaka@cuts.org, nairobi@cuts.org

CUTS LRC

CUTS London Resource Centre, established in 2003, at London function as the international advocacycentre of CUTS, other than acting as a support facility for other centres of CUTS. The Centre isworking towards bridging the gap between the North and the South and it acts as a platform for theNorth-South dialogue. Email: london@cuts.org

CUTS HRCCUTS Hanoi Resource Centre (CUTS HRC), established in 2007, functions as a resource coordinationand networking centre of CUTS in Vietnam and the Southeast Asian region. Email: hanoi@cuts.org

CUTS GRCCUTS Geneva Resource Centre (CUTS GRC) has been established in Geneva, Switzerland in 2008 witha view to promote a pro-trade, pro-consumer southern NGO voice in the policy making circles workingon trade and development in Geneva. Email: geneva@cuts.org

In view of severe shortage of institutional capacity to both implement reforms and facilitate thespread of knowledge on regulatory matters in developing countries and lack of adequate emphasison learning from cross-sectoral and cross-country experiences, there has been urgent need foran institution to fill this gap. CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition (CIRC) was establishedin September 2005 at Jaipur, India, with an aim to enhance knowledge on regulatory issues.

CIRC seeks to offer a wide range of programmes aimed at the existing scenario and cater to theunmet demand of trained personnel in the following areas:

• Infrastructure and Economic Regulation• Competition Policy & Law• Commercial & Economic Diplomacy

CUTS CENTRES

CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition

PROGRAMME CENTRES

RESOURCE CENTRES

4

Affiliations

Organisational Structure

General Body(Meets once a year and receives the annual report and audited accounts,

elects the executive every fourth year and approves broad policy directions)

Executive Committee(Meets at least twice a year, take policy decisions, and approve budgets, etc.)

Secretary General(Appointed by the Executive Committee as the chief executive officer of the organisation, receives

instructions from the board, implements all programmes and oversees administration)

International

International Centre forTrade and SustainableDevelopment, Geneva

South Asia Watch on Trade,Economics & Environment(SAWTEE), Kathmandu

UNCTAD

United Nations EnvironmentProgramme (UNEP)

UN Commission onSustainable Development

CIVICUS, Washington DC,US

Consumers International,London, UK

Environment Liaison CentreInternational, Nairobi, Kenya

Consumer Choice Council,Washington DC, US

National

Technical Committee onEcomark, Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests

Standing Committee onTextiles and ConsumerInterest, Ministry ofTextiles

Central ConsumerProtection Council, Ministryof Consumer Affairs

Consumer CoordinationCouncil

Investor Protection Forumof the Securities andExchange Board of India(SEBI)

National Codex Committee,Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare, Governmentof India

1. Dr Sharda Jain, President

2. Mr Pradeep S Mehta,Secretary General

3. Dr N C Pahariya,Secretary cum Treasurer

4. Mr Ajit Singh, Member

5. Dr Ganga Singh, Member

6. Dr Subir Gokarn, Member

7. Ms Asha Bhatnagar, Member

8. Mr V V Singh, Member

9. Ms Usha Jumani, Member

10.Dr K B Singh, Member

11.Dr Kishore Rungta, Member

Executive Committee

Decision Making

The General Body and the Executive Committee lay down thepolicy directives for the organisation. The secretariat implementsthe broad decisions through a core management committeeconsisting of the Secretary General, Secretary, ExecutiveDirector/Dy. Executive Director, Advisers, Directors, AssociateDirectors, Assistant Directors and Co-ordinators, Head & DeputyHeads of Centres.

Our People

Members: 353 life300institutional

ExecutiveCommittee Members: 8

Full-time Staff: 100

Part-Time Staff: 8

Volunteers: 300

Secretary cum Treasurer Executive Director/ Directors/Associate/Assistant Directors Director/Coordinators Dy. Executive Directors

CART

Head/Deputy Head

Co-ordinators

Programme Officers

Staff Assts

CITEE

Head/Deputy Head

Policy Analysts/Researchers/Fellows

Programme Officers

Staff Assts

CHD

Co-ordinator

Field Officers

Field Staff

C-CIER

Head/Deputy Head

Policy Analysts/Researchers/Fellows

Programme Officers

Staff Assts

CRC

Adviser

Programme Officers

Staff Assts

LRC

Researchers

Staff Assts

DRC

Adviser

Coordinator

Staff Assts

ARCs(Lusaka & Nairobi)

Researchers/Programme Officers

Staff Assts

HRC

Staff Assts

GRC

Staff Assts

Head/Dy. Head

5

The organisation has five programme centres and sixresource centres: six in India: three in Jaipur, one in Kolkata,and one each in Chittorgarh and Delhi; two in Africa: Lusaka(Zambia) and Nairobi (Kenya); one in London (UK); one inHanoi (Vietnam) and one in Geneva (Switzerland).

Each of these centres is equipped with modern facilitieslike internet, fax machine, photocopier, etc., for efficient andprofessional functioning. Currently, there are 100 full-timestaff members.

Revenue is raised through membership subscriptions,sale of publications, research contracts, donations fromnon-commercial sources, and grants from the Governmentof India and the Consumer Welfare Fund.

In fiscal year 2008-2009 (April 2008 to March 2009),CUTS’ budget is expected to exceed Rs 15 crore (includingcapital expenditure).

CENTRES

What they Say

DONORSWe have received or are receiving funds from the following donors:

GovernmentAusAIDCIDA, New DelhiDFID, UK and IndiaGovernment of India (various Ministries)Government of RajasthanGovernment of The NetherlandsGovernment of SwedenGovernment of SwitzerlandNORAD, NorwayOECD, FranceSECO and SDC, Berne and New DelhiSEBI, MumbaiSIDA, Stockholm and New DelhiThe European CommissionThe World Bank, USUNFPA, New DelhiUnited NationsUNCTAD, GenevaWHO, New Delhi

Non-governmentChristian Aid, UKEZE, GermanyFriedrich Ebert Stiftung, GermanyHIVOS, The NetherlandsInternational Development Research Centre, CanadaMISEREOR, GermanyMS, DenmarkOxfam NOVIB, The NetherlandsOxfam GB in IndiaFord Foundation, USThe John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, USThe Summit Foundation, USSave the Children Fund, UKHewlett Foundation, UK

I congratulate my colleagues at CUTS forhigh quality analysis and publications fortheir exemplary work in social field, tradeand economics and openness to disclosurewith all sectors of society in India andabroad.

Raymond SanerDirector, Centre for Socio-

Economic Development(CSEND), Geneva

Congratulations on the launch of a seriesof training programmes for the Ministry ofCommerce & Industry, Government of India.This time trade capacity building is inaction.

Geza Feketekuty,President, Institute for

Trade and CommercialDiplomacy, US

Impressed by CUTS’ specialisation inspreading its message to every nook andcorner of the society. It would have been betterif ‘Gram Gadar’ is published in regionallanguages from every region.

Rakesh Bhartiya,Director

Department of Science & TechnologyGovernment of India

I am very happy to be able tovisit CUTS Headquarters. CUTSis currently implementing oneimportant project for theCommonwealth Secretariat and I am impressed with theprogress made so far and with the way project activitiesare coordinated. Particularly, I would like to congratulatethe staff at CUTS CITEE. I look forward to have further contactbetween our two organisations.

M A RazzaqueCommonwealth Secretariat

London, UK

We very much value ourpartnership with CUTS, and theclose and regular contact you

maintain with us. I am aware, for example, that staff inInternational Trade Department recently participated in yourexcellent conference on Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)and Aid for Trade in Nairobi.

Gareth ThomasParliamentary Under-Secretary of State,

Department for International Development (DFID), UK

RESOURCES

6CUTS CENTRE FOR CONSUMER ACTION, RESEARCH & TRAINING (CUTS CART)

Consumer action is CUTS’ raison d’etre. In order to actualise this, CUTS CART was established as thefirst Programme Centre of CUTS in 1996. It spearheaded several campaigns and pioneered consumerempowerment. The Centre’s Mission is: ‘To enable people, particularly the poor and themarginalised, to achieve their rights to basic needs and sustainable development, through a strongconsumer movement’.

Consumer Education & ProtectionThe Department of Food and

Consumer Affairs, Government of India,with the support of Consumer WelfareFund selected CUTS to set up ‘ConsumerInformation Cell’ (CIC) at three of itsProgramme Centres, i.e. Jaipur, Kolkataand Chittorgarh. The CIC handlescomplaints in addition to providingadvisory services to consumers throughdirect counseling or via e-mail andtelephone.

The Centre brought out a path-breaking book entitled, ‘Rajasthan MeinUpbhoktaon ki Stithi (State ofConsumers in Rajasthan), whichdiscusses core consumer issues. It alsopublished two books – ‘ConsumerProtection Act and the Supreme Court’and ‘Using Consumer Law to ImproveGovernance’.

‘Consumer Awareness Programme’was undertaken with the support of StateConsumer Welfare Fund of theGovernment of Rajasthan to promoteskills training and awareness campaignsrelated to consumer protection.

The Centre has been implementing aproject entitled, ‘Tobacco ControlCampaign by Mobilising KeyStakeholders in Rajasthan’ with thesupport of World Health Organisation(WHO) India and the Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare, Government of India(GoI). The Centre is a member of the

Advocacy Forum for Tobacco Control(AFTC), India.

Investor Education and ProtectionCUTS is a recognised investor

association with the Securities andExchange Board of India (SEBI), Mumbaiand is also registered with Ministry ofCorporate Affairs, GoI under InvestorEducation and Protection Fund. Withsupport from SEBI, the Centre has beenimplementing the Securities and MarketAwareness Campaigns in Rajasthan. Ithas also been working on investoreducation programmes supported by theMinistry of Corporate Affairs, GoI.

Good GovernanceThe Centre launched a project

entitled, ‘Participatory ExpenditureTracking Survey on Mid Day MealScheme in Rajasthan’, in partnershipwith the South Asia Social AccountabilityNetwork of the World Bank to measurethe effectiveness of the scheme in theState.

The Centre was appointed to peerreview the section on ‘India Budget’ underthe International Budget Project of theCentre on Budget and Policy Priorities,Washington DC as part of measuring thelevel of transparency in nationalbudgetary processes in 60 countries.

The Centre is partnering withPartnership for Transparency Fund in theimplementation of a project entitled,‘Combating Corruption in Rajasthan,by using RTI as a Tool’.

‘Assessing 2Qs (Quality &Quantity) Outputs of the National RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme’ inSirohi District of Rajasthan is beingimplemented by the Centre with supportof the World Bank. The Centre has alsobeen part of International Resource Teamon Social Accountability of the WorldBank Institute of SustainabilityDevelopment, Washington DC sinceJanuary 2007.

Utility ReformsThe Centre along with Friedrich Ebert

Stiftung (FES) conceptualised aprogramme entitled, ‘Involvement ofConsumers in Power Sector Reforms’in Rajasthan, in August 2001. Threephases have been completed successfully.

Based on feedback, a replicable andsustainable model was developed, knownas ‘CUTS-FES Model in Power Sector’.

The World Bank in 2004, under its ‘Voiceand Client Power Programme’, hadidentified this model as one of thesuccessful interventions.

The Centre has been working as aproject partner on the project entitled,‘Capacity Building on ElectricityReforms in Bangladesh, India andNepal’ (RESA) to build capacity of civilsociety on electricity reforms. The Centreis a member of the State AdvisoryCommittee of the Rajasthan ElectricityRegulatory Commission (RERC).

Sustainable MobilityThe Centre has been implementing a

new project, ‘Traffic Calming Strategiesto Improve Pedestrian Safety in India’in partnership with Lund University,Sweden and with the support of SwedishInternational Development CooperationAgency (SIDA) to highlight the key flawsin the design of Indian roads and developa manual, which will be first of its kindin India.

Child Rights ProtectionThe Centre has been a part of the

committee constituted by the Governmentof Rajasthan to formulate the ‘State ChildPolicy’ since February 2003. The Centre,in partnership with Save the Children(UK), implemented a unique projectentitled, ‘Hum Bhi Bachche Hain’ (we,too, are children) on Child DomesticWorkers. CUTS CART is also a member ofthe City Advisory Board of the ChildLine,Jaipur and Core Group, Rajasthan NGOAlliance.

Sustainable DevelopmentThe Ministry of Environment &

Forests, Government of India hasappointed the Centre as the RegionalResource Agency (RRA) for Rajasthanunder the National EnvironmentAwareness Campaign (NEAC) for threeyears, i.e. from 2006-07 to 2008-09.

The Centre has implemented a projectentitled, ‘Promoting Greater Role of thePanchayati Raj Institutions inRajasthan to Foster Rural LivelihoodOpportunities: Meeting the Challengesof Globalisation and EconomicLiberalisation’ with the support ofCanada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).

The Centre is also part of the stateand national coalitions for MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) and SouthAsia Youth Environment Network (SAYEN).

At a Glance

Responsible for the enactmentand strengthening of the dynamicConsumer Protection Act (COPRA).

CUTS CART has been appointedmember of the State AdvisoryCommittee (SAC) of the RajasthanElectricity Regulatory Commission(RERC).

The Centre is a member of theSouth Asia Social AccountabilityNetwork (SASANet) supported bythe World Bank; Network for SAcCurriculum Development in SouthAsian of the World Bank; andDemand for Good GovernanceLearning Network of the WorldBank.

Member of the newly formedCentral Consumer ProtectionCouncil (CCPC) 5th time.

7

WTO IssuesCITEE has been working on World

Trade Organisation (WTO) issues since1996, by carrying out political andeconomic analyses of multilateral tradeissues. After the successful completionof Phase-I of ‘WTO Doha Round &South Asia – Linking Civil Society withTrade Negotiations’ project, formallyknown as SAFIT, Phase-II is beingimplemented in five South Asiancountries, viz. Bangladesh, India, Nepal,Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in partnershipwith various organisations.

The project focuses on the followingissues, identified from the Hong KongWTO Ministerial Declaration: Duty &Quota Free Market Access; Services;Preference Erosion and Aid for Trade;Agriculture: Special Products and SpecialSafeguard Measures; and Non-TariffBarriers.

The objective of the Project is toconduct research on five select issues ofHong Kong Ministerial Declaration ofWTO negotiations highlighting civilsociety’s perceptions & concerns; anddomestic preparedness.

Regional Economic CooperationThere has been an enormous increase

in Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs)in the last 20 years. South-Southcooperation is an integral part of thisprogramme area.

The Centre has undertaken a projectentitled, ‘India-EU FTA T radeSustainability Impact Assessment’with the support of ECORYS, TheNetherlands to assess how trade andinvestment provisions of the enhancedagreement under negotiation could affecteconomic, social, environmental anddevelopment issues in the EU and inIndia. The outcome of the study willinclude a quantitative and qualitativeanalysis of the economic, social andenvironmental effects stemming from theagreement on tariffs, trade in goods andservices and non-tariff barriers.

Another project, ‘India andRegional Economic Cooperation (REC)in South and Southeast Asia’ has beenimplemented with the support ofFriedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), India toengage diverse stakeholders in India withregional trade initiatives in South Asia

CUTS CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE, ECONOMICS & ENVIRONMENT (CUTS CITEE)

In early 1990s, when the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), wasat its peak, CUTS took up international trade and economics issues. With growing expertise andexperience, CUTS CITEE was established in 1996, with the Mission: ‘Pursuing economic equity andsocial justice, within and across borders, by persuading governments and empowering people’.

and promote policy responses that wouldbe inclusive of stakeholder preferences.It would assess future prospects ofIndia’s approach towards REC in SouthAsia in a bilateral or multilateral setting.

Developmental IssuesOn developmental issues, the Centre

has the motto: “liberalisation yes, butwith safety nets”. The ‘Linkagesbetween T rade, Development andPoverty (TDP) Reduction’ projectattempts to facilitate cross-fertilisationof experiences and lessons learnt onlinkages between trade, development andpoverty reduction in developing countries,to develop appropriate policy responses.The project is being implemented in 15countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.

The ‘Grassroots Reachout &Networking in India on T rade &Economics (GRANITE-II)’ project aimsto raise awareness on globalisation andWTO issues. It is being implemented ineight Indian states, in partnership withcivil society organisations (CSOs) andfocuses on agriculture and textiles &clothing. The objective of the project isto generate a more coherent civil societyvoice on economic governance in Indiain the context of globalisation and itseffects on the livelihoods of the poor,particularly the marginalised andwomen.

The Research Programme Consortiumon ‘Improving Institutions for Pro-PoorGrowth,’ known as the ‘IPPG Programme’is led by Development Studies Institute(DSI) at the London School ofEconomics, UK. CUTS CITEE is one ofthe consortium members that proposesto analyse the impact of institutionalinteractions on pro-poor growth anddevelop country case studies, drawn fromsub-Saharan Africa (SSA), South Asiaand Latin America.

The project, ‘MainstreamingInternational T rade into NationalDevelopment Strategy: A Pilot Projectin Bangladesh and India’ aims toensure and enhance positive linkagesbetween trade and human development,foster equity and accountability of thenational trade policy; and enhance amore coherent civil society voice in theformulation and implementation ofnational trade policy and its linkages

with national development strategy.The project entitled, ‘Enabling

developing countries to seize eco-labelopportunities ’ will increase theenvironmental efficiency of key exportproducts and related industrial processesin Brazil, China, India, Kenya, Mexicoand South Africa by supporting theactive contribution of industry andgovernment to the 10-Year Framework ofProgrammes on SustainableConsumption and Production (Marrakechprocess).

A project on ‘Impact of T radeLiberalisation on Consumption andProduction of Vegetable Oils in India’with the support of UNCTAD, India wasundertaken to assess the impact of tradeliberalisation on oil seeds in India.

Capacity BuildingA project entitled, ‘Capacity

Building of Indian GovernmentOfficials on Commercial and EconomicDiplomacy’ was undertaken with thesupport of Department of Commerce,Ministry of Commerce and Industry,Government of India to enhance skillsby developing/strengthening capacity fortaking effective part in trade andinvestment negotiations andimplementation aspects of relatedinternational agreements.

At a Glance

CUTS Secretary General PradeepS Mehta was invited to participatein the official delegation of Indiato the sixth WTO MinisterialConference in Hong Kong.

CUTS CITEE celebrated its 10thAnniversary by organising a publiclecture of Prof T N Srinivasan ofthe Yale University, US.

Nominated on World Bank’s HighLevel Trade Policy EvaluationAdvisory Panel in May 2005 toadvise the Operations EvaluationDepartment (OED) on the design,conduct and outputs of theevaluation of the Bank’s lendingand non-lending activities in thetrade policy area.

8CUTS CENTRE FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT (CUTS CHD)

Human Empowerment‘The Rural Girls’ Empowerment

Programme’ (RGEP) supported by Savethe Children, UK, was implemented in36 villages of five panchayat samities(an administrative unit over a cluster ofvillages) of Chittorgarh district and ninevillages of one panchayat samiti ofBhilwara district. Under this programme,the Centre succeeded in forming BalPanchayats (local self governance bychildren) and also Social Justice andDevelopment Committees.

With the support from the NationalBank for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD), ‘Self-HelpGroups (SHGs) and Bank LinkagesProject’ was implemented in 200 villagesin Mandalgarh and Banera panchayatsamities of Bhilwara district. It aimedto empower women through easy accessto loans from the banks to make themself-reliant.

A new SHG project with NABARD forforming 800 SHGs in Bhilwara andChittorgarh has been initiated, whichaims to target mainly Above Poverty Line(APL) families.

Another micro-credit project hasbegun with the support of Zila Parishad,Chittorgarh to ensure socio-economicdevelopment and enhance livelihoodsecurity in rural areas.

The Centre, with support from PlanIndia and the Indian Institute of HealthManagement and Research, Jaipur,implemented ‘Universal BirthRegistration’ programme in the Banera,

Ever since its inception, CUTS has been pursuing consumer issues and community-based actionprogrammes at the grassroots level. In pursuit of this policy, CUTS CHD was established in theyear 1991, in Senti village, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan. The Centre’s Mission is: ‘To be an innovativecentre for strategic interventions to raise the living standards of people’.

Mandalgarh, and Suwana panchayatsamities of Bhilwara district.

The Centre with the support fromthe United Nations InternationalChildren’s Emergency Fund andRajasthan State Women Commissionorganised ‘Social AwarenessCampaigns against Child Marriage’ in30 extra sensitive villages of Chittorgarhdistrict. The Centre, in association withSafe Motherhood Alliance (SUMA),organised ‘Safe Motherhood’ campaignsin Chittorgarh.

With support from Save the Children– Bal Raksha Bharat, the Centre hasundertaken ‘Improving Quality ofElementary Education Project’ (IQEEP)to improve quality of education inRajasthan. The project is beingimplemented in 25 villages of six GramPanchayats of Chittor block inChittorgarh district.

Resources ManagementA project entitled, ‘Land and Water

Management Leading towardsBiodiversity Conservation’ wasimplemented with the support of Centrefor Environment Education (CEE),Ahmedabad, in Pemdiyakhera village ofNimbahera panchayat samiti ofChittorgarh district. The objective wasto encourage and contribute to theconservation and enhancement ofbiodiversity by the community throughland and water management.

Reproductive and Child HealthThe ‘Chayan Youth Intervention

project’ was implemented by the Centrewith the support from CARE, Indiafocusing youth in the age group of 15-24, in six Kachchi Bastis of Bhilwaradistrict. The project aimed at socialmobilisation in order to promoteawareness on HIV/AIDS and sensitisethe youth against the dangerousconsequences of this fatal disease.

The Centre, with the support fromCARE India, implemented ‘Reproductiveand Child Health, Nutrition and Aids(RACHNA) ’ programme in Banera,Mandalgarh, and Suwana panchayatsamities of Bhilwara district. Theprogramme aimed at bringing aboutlasting improvement in the health and

nutrition of women and children andreducing the mortality rate of motherand child.

The Centre has been selected as anodal agency for Mother NGO project forimplementing the Reproductive and ChildHealth (RCH) schemes in Bhilwara andChittorgarh districts of Rajasthan underthe ‘RCH’ scheme of the Department ofHealth and Family Welfare, Governmentof India.

Joffe Charitable Trust, UK supportedthe Centre for a base line survey onmaternal health care services in 100villages in Chittorgarh and Bhilwaradistricts of Rajasthan, to identify theproblems and requirements in maternaland child health services.

Good GovernanceThe ‘Panchayati Raj Institutions

(PRIs) Support and MobilisationProgramme’ was launched with thesupport from Swiss Agency forDevelopment and Cooperation (SDC),New Delhi and implemented in ninepanchayats of Chittorgarh, Bhadesarand Nimbahera blocks. The project aimedtowards assessment and evaluation ofthe functioning of PRIs in line with the73rd Constitutional Amendment

A project entitled, ‘Good Governancethrough Consumer Awareness’, an in-house initiation of CUTS CHD, wasimplemented in all the 14 blocks of theChittorgarh district to create awarenessamong the consumers of the district andfacilitate the process of good andtransparent governance.

The Centre, with the support ofCUTS CART, and in association withDepartment of Food, Civil Supplies andConsumer Affairs, Government ofRajasthan is implementing a ‘ConsumerAwareness Programme’ in 20 selectedblocks of 10 districts of Rajasthan.

Good Governance is also acrosscutting issue with the otherprogramme areas of the Centre.

At a Glance

Ratni Bai Khatik, a CUTS networkerwas awarded the internationalprize ‘Creativity of Women in theRural Life’ by the Women WorldSummit Foundation, Geneva,Switzerland.

CUTS CHD is a member of DistrictReproductive Child Health (RCH)Society for Chittorgarh andBhilwara.

CUTS CHD is the office of DistrictNGO forum of Chittorgarh andBhilwara districts.

9CUTS CENTRE FOR COMPETITION, INVESTMENT & ECONOMIC REGULATION (CUTS CCIER)

Competition Policy and LawA unique approach (7Up model) of

implementing competition policy projectsin developing countries was initiated forseven Commonwealth countries of Africaand Asia. It was aimed to develop anoverall understanding of the obstaclesencountered by developing countries inimplementing their national competitionregimes. This project was followed by twomore regional competition projects:7Up2 and 7Up3, which have beensuccessful in equipping nationalstakeholders to better appreciate theneed for national competition reforms.

The Centre has initiated anothersequel, 7Up4 project in seven countriesof West Africa, a region where the stateof competition policy and lawimplementation has not been studiedmuch. It also intends to test the 7Upapproach further in the Middle East andNorth Africa (MENA) region, CentralAfrica, Central Asia and South East Asiain future.

The Centre brought out a pathbreaking volume, ‘Competition Regimesin the World – A Civil Society Report’mapping competition regimes in 120countries. This project was implementedwith substantial contributions receivedfrom members of the InternationalNetwork of Civil Society Organisationson Competition (INCSOC) – a uniquenetwork of experts, scholars and CSOswith an interest on competition policyand law issues.

CCIER was selected by the Ministryof Trade and Industry, Private SectorDevelopment and President’s SpecialInitiatives, Government of Ghana todevelop a Competition Act for thecountry.

The Centre has undertaken theproject ‘India Competition andRegulation Report (ICRR)’ against thebackground that while India hasembraced market-oriented economicreforms, there has been no assessmentof the outcome of such reforms.

Economic RegulationThe Centre has developed an

approach of involving consumers in theprocess of evolving and implementingregulatory policies in the utility sector.This approach was developed to

strengthen the capacity of South AsianCSOs/community based organisations(CBOs) enabling them to contribute tothe regulatory policies in the electricitysector. Still in the early phase of itsapplication, this approach holds thepromise of being replicated in other partsof Asia/Africa, and also in other sectorswith a direct consumer interface.

CCIER has also undertaken studiesacross developed and developingcountries to better understand regulatorystructures and processes, and collate aninventory of ‘good practices’ that couldbe useful for all.

Over a period of almost two years,the Centre embarked on a thoroughassessment of the regulatory structurein the infrastructure sector – in order toengage with the Government of India, inits attempt to develop a regulatoryframework for the infrastructure sectorin the country. CUTS’ suggestions onvarious elements of this framework wereaccepted by the Government.

The Centre initiated a biennialresearch programme entitled,‘Competition Regulation andDevelopment Research Forum’ (CDRF),aiming to encourage developing countriesresearchers to undertake research onproblems in implementing regulatorypolicies in the developing world.

Investment ClimateUNCTAD recognised CUTS as its

strategic partner for Investment Policywork worldwide. This was an outcomeof CUTS research on the interfacebetween investment and developmentstudied across countries.

A close ally of the OECD, the Centreundertook Policy Framework forInvestment (PFI) assessments in India,Vietnam and Zambia. It has also beenparticipating in all the global investmentfora organised by the OECD to discusspolicy matters.

Considering the fact that ofteninvestors (domestic and international)are not familiar with policies, proceduresand rules that govern their investmentin developing countries, the organisationhas envisaged an approach of bringinginvestors and policymakers face-to-faceto discuss investment promotion issues.The Centre believes that CSOs are best

placed to act as facilitators at such aplatform.

Consumer ProtectionThe Centre has assisted various

governments in developing their nationalconsumer protection regimes includingSouth Africa and Vietnam. In Bhutan,CUTS was requested by the RoyalBhutanese Government to draft theconsumer protection regime for thecountry.

‘State of Consumers’ was developedfor the Government of India –highlighting the state of consumer rightsin the country, and assess the situationin terms of identified quantitativeindicators of achievement.

CCIER is developing a techniquereferred to as the ‘Consumer ImpactAssessment’ (CIA) to help assess theimpact of regulatory policies onconsumers (either ex ante, or ex post).The organisation aims to undertake somestudies to apply this technique in selectsectors within India.

To confer a distinct identity to CUTS’ work on competition, investment and regulatory issues aswell as to take it forward in a more cogent manner, CUTS CCIER was established in 2003. TheCentre’s Mission is: ‘Promoting fair markets to enhance consumer welfare and economicdevelopment’.

At a Glance

The Planning Commission,Government of India appointedPradeep S Mehta as a member ofits Working Groups on ConsumerProtection and on CompetitionPolicy.

Contributed substantially in thedesign of the Indian CompetitionAct, 2002 and convinced theGovernment for a NationalCompetition Policy.

Involved with competition reformprojects in about 30 countries inAsia and Africa.

Member of Central AdvisoryCommittee of the CentralElectricity Regulatory Commission(CERC).

Member of South Asian Forum onResponsible Business (SAFoRB),the only CSO alliance onresponsible business conduct inSouth Asia.

10CUTS CALCUTTA RESOURCE CENTRE (CUTS CRC)

A consumer is entitled to safe goods, services and environment, as they affect her/his life directly.Feeling the need for more focused action in the area of consumer safety, CUTS CRC was establishedat Kolkata in 1987 and Safety Watch as an independent programme in 1993. It has been workingsimultaneously on grassroots economic development as well. The Mission of the Centre is: ‘Towork in association with other Centres to ensure consumer sovereignty and economic equality,within and across borders’.

Safety WatchCRC has been working on consumer

safety issues since early 1990s. TheCentre launched a programme, ‘SafetyWatch’, which focuses on consumersafety i.e. protection of citizen’s rightsagainst unsafe goods, services andtechnologies.

The Centre published a book, ‘Is itReally Safe?’ which looks at consumersafety issues, which is second in theseries of publications known as CaveatEmptor, which means ‘buyers beware’.The first one was ‘How to Survive as aConsumer?’ which deals with consumerprotection issues. The third ‘DeadlyProfits’, is on the anvil, which wouldexamine how businesses put profitsbefore human safety.

The Centre has been working onhealth issues focusing on medicallyinappropriate and economicallyinefficient use of medicines, which iscommonly prevalent among consumers.A project entitled “Promotion ofRational Use of Drugs through Patient

Information Material and ConsumerAwareness Programme” aimed to makeconsumers aware of their rights andresponsibilities with regard to the useof drugs.

Economic Governance at the GrassrootsThe Centre as a project partner has

implemented a two-year projectentitled, “Grassroots Reachout &Networking in India on Trade & EconomicIssues” (GRANITE Phase-I) in partnershipwith various civil society organisationsin West Bengal.

The project was implemented ineight Indian states, viz. AndhraPradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra,Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, UttarPradesh and West Bengal with thesupport from the Royal NorwegianEmbassy, New Delhi and Oxfam Novib,The Netherlands.

As a project partner, the Centre hasalso undertaken a project entitled“Documenting Advocacy Practices InvolvingLocal Stakeholders with the Process of Tradeand Globalisation in four Indian states” todocument advocacy practices with locallevel stakeholders (in West Bengal) onissues relating to globalisation andtrade.

While implementing the GRANITEPhase-II project, the Centre intends totake a stock of how state governmentsand other stakeholders in these statesare involved in the process ofpreparation and implementation of thisNational Foreign Trade Policy of India.

The Centre has also been workingas a partner of the project entitled,“Mainstreaming International Trade intoNational Development Strategy: A PilotProject in Bangladesh and India” which hasbeen built through scientificconsolidation and expansion of theneed-based and demand driven agendafor mainstreaming international tradeinto national development strategiesof two South Asian countries, viz.Bangladesh and India.

CRC has also implemented aresearch and advocacy project entitled,“Farmers Rights to Livelihood Phase-I”, to

study the impact of WTO agreementson Farmer’s Rights to Livelihood in theHimalayan region of India. Phase-II ofthe project focused on issues of Accessand Benefit Sharing of geneticresources and status of Prior InformedContent, and farmer’s participation inthe decision making process.

The Centre is a partner of the projecton “Assessment of the Potential Costs andBenefits of SEZs in India”.

Earlier CRC had undertaken a projectfrom Action Aid International, India, toassess the micro and macroimplications of farm land acquisitionto promote industrialisation in WestBengal.

Consumer AwarenessCRC is working as a partner of the

project entitled, “Capacity Building onElectricity Reforms in Bangladesh, India andNepal” which is supported by theNorwegian Agency for DevelopmentCooperation.

It aims to build capacity of consumergroups/CSOs to enable them to dealwith the issues involved, take up actionresearch, share experiences, and carryout advocacy with policymakers andregulatory agencies to effect pro-consumer changes in the electricityregulatory/policy processes.

Environment IssuesA project on “Lead-Acid Battery Waste

Management” has been assigned by theWest Bengal Pollution Control Board tobring to the light the status of batterywaste management in West Bengal.

At a Glance

As a result of a public interestpetition filed by CUTS on the useof banned toxic food additives, theConsumer Protection Act (COPRA)was amended to enableconsumers to take action againsthazardous goods under the Rightto Safety.

A CUTS study on Road Safety, in1990, became the basis for theNational Road Safety Policyadopted by the Government ofIndia in 1993 being revised.

CUTS was nominated to theNational Road Safety Council twiceand to its first high-levelMinisterial Committee, which wasestablished to formulate theNational Road Safety Policy.

CUTS has been nominated to be apart of the Advisory Cell of WestBengal Electricity RegulatoryCommission (WBERC).

11MARCHING AHEAD

India

• CUTS Delhi Resource Centre (CUTSDRC) was set up as a full-fledgedoffice to act as the focal point forCUTS’ advocacy, outreach andexternal relations with national andinternational institutions, includinggovernment departments andagencies. The objective of openingDRC was to feed the work being doneat the national level by other Centresof CUTS.

To facilitate ParliamentaryAdvocacy, the Centre worked onquestions to the Parliamentarians tobe raised during the Parliamentarysessions; following up of thequestions raised and responsesreceived; and informing andsensitising MPs for raisingParliamentary Questions on differentsocio-economic issues, including Billsto be put forth for a wider and well-informed discussion.

• CUTS initiated the inception of CUTSInstitute for Regulation &Competition (CIRC), keeping in mind,the need for fair knowledge, betternegotiating skills and improvedcapacity of understandingcompetition policy and law, andeconomic and infrastructureregulation. The Institute waslaunched in September 2005 with aninitiative towards creating anintellectual and knowledge base onthe core activity areas of competitionpolicy and law, and economic andinfrastructure regulation.

The slogan ‘enhancing knowledge,strengthening capacity’ explicitlydefines the work area of the Institute.The Centre’s activities are dividedinto three programme areas:Economic and InfrastructureRegulation; Competition Policy &Law; and Commercial & Economicdiplomacy. CIRC has so far organised18 training programmes and 9academic lectures. A combination ofIndian and international resourcepersons contributed to these events.

UK

CUTS London Resource Centre (CUTSLRC) was established in February 2003.The work of LRC builds on the expertiseand experience of CUTS India,particularly within the fields of

international trade, economics anddevelopment, as well as global decision-making processes. Through research,advocacy and campaigning, the Centreseeks to build strong partnerships andalliances between Northern and Southernactors in order to promote a sustainableand just international trading system.

LRC works with a broad range ofgrassroot groups to raise their awarenesson the potential impact of EconomicPartnership Agreements (EPAs) on theirlivelihoods, and build their capacity tofeed their concerns surrounding EPAsinto the official negotiation process.

Zambia

CUTS Africa Resource Centre (CUTS ARC),Lusaka was registered in Zambia, inDecember 2000, and began operationsin February 2001.

The objective of the Centre is topromote South-South cooperation ontrade and development and create long-term capacity of civil societyrepresentatives to address equity andaccountability issues. In addition, itworks as a resource, co-ordination andnetworking centre for various CUTS’projects in Africa.

The Centre has been involved inadvocacy work on competition policy,consumer protection, development-oriented foreign direct investment policy,fair trade, poverty reduction, stakeholderinvolvement in decision-making processetc. It brings out policy briefs,newsletters, press releases and organisesworkshops for advocacy work.

Kenya

ARC, Nairobi is a registered NGO thatstarted its operations in 2002 to worknot only in the region of East Africa butalso the Horn of Africa.

It was set up with the mandate ofproviding support to NGOs in EasternAfrica in the areas of consumerprotection, poverty reduction,development of trade and economicpolicy, training and advocacy in theseregions. These activities aim toconsolidate and expand South-Southcivil society cooperation on trade andeconomic development.

In 2005, the Centre established linkswith a number of CSOs working on tradeand development issues in Eastern andSouthern Africa (ESA) to collaborate and

share expertise in the spirit of South-South civil society cooperation on tradeand development issues.

Vietnam

CUTS has been working over the lastcouple of years in the Greater MekongSub-region (GMS), especially inCambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam. Afterimplementing regional projects oncompetition policy and law andinternational trade issues, it was realisedthat there is an urgent need for furtherresearch and building capacity on tradeand regulatory policy issues.

CUTS Hanoi Resource Centre (CUTSHRC) was established in 2007. Theobjective the Centre is to be a catalystin transferring objective knowledge andadvocacy skills from India to the GMScountries towards mainstreaming thecivil society movement into thedevelopment process.

The Centre aims to be an initiator ofdialogue between the policy communityand the civil society; to cross-fertiliseexchange of knowledge and research-cum-advocacy skills by making regional andinternational good practices available inVietnam and other countries in the sameregion.

Switzerland

CUTS Geneva Resource Centre (CUTSGRC) was launched on July 16, 2008. Itwill work closely with Geneva-baseddeveloping country negotiators and theirpolicy makers and civil societyrepresentatives. It will ensure thepresence of a pro-trade, pro-consumerdevelopmental NGO closer to trade policydebates.

Its research and analysis and otheractivities will be demand-driven, objectiveand will strive to provide a credible andpro-trade-for -development voice inGeneva.

The first initiative of the Centrewould be the project entitled, ‘FosteringEquity and Accountability in the TradingSystem (FEATS)’. It focuses on threecountries in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzaniaand Uganda) and two in Southern Africa(Malawi and Zambia). This three-yearproject will have three inter-linkedstreams of activities, namely: policyresearch, advocacy, and networking.