The Challenge We’re Up Against

How Official Writing Limits Public Comprehension

India produces an enormous volume of legislative bills, amendments, and policy changes- but most citizens don’t get usable explanations of what they mean in real life. Policies are typically drafted in formal legal language, meant for courts and administrators rather than for everyday readers. Definitions are complex and crucial implications are buried in technical detail, making even high-impact laws difficult for a regular person to read, interpret, or apply without specialist help.

The gap isn’t theoretical: even on a single, high-impact law like the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, which was widely publicized, a PwC India survey found only 16% of consumers were aware of the Act, while 56% were not aware of their data rights, and 69% didn’t know they could withdraw consent.

Language as a Barrier to Civic Access

Currently, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs only publishes the bill text in English and in Hindi. This means that even when citizens want to engage, language often remains a barrier. Census 2011 data shows that only around 43% of Indians report Hindi as their first language, and just over 10% report any ability to speak English, leaving nearly half the population outside both linguistic categories. At the same time, demand is clearly multilingual: the IAMAI–Kantar “Internet in India” findings reported that 57% of urban internet users prefer consuming content in regional  languages.

When policy communication relies primarily on these two languages, especially in dense legal form, it fails to reach how most Indians actually read, speak, and understand information. As a result, formal availability does not translate into meaningful access.Sample text. Click to select the Text Element.

Our Approach to Civic Literacy

Primarily, our work focuses on the questions most citizens are never given clear, simplified answers to: what has changed, what problem it was meant to address, and what it means beyond the fine print. We turn legislation into knowledge people can actually act on. Understanding in India has to be multilingual by design. Recognising this reality, we translate our explainers into Indian languages so the same policy clarity reaches the same people who are otherwise excluded from civic participation.