The School of Social Sciences organized a virtual workshop on the Role of Civil society organizations in public policy making on 11th February, 2023. Dr MN Roy, retired  IAS and the President-Sigma Foundation based in Kolkata was invited as a resource person. The resource person examined the transitioning role of civil society organizations in policymaking from an advocate to an implementer, evaluator, capacity builder and knowledge-sharing roles. He highlighted the role of CSOs in passing public-friendly laws like RTI, MGNREGA under Right to employment, Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act etc. While discussing the impediments to participatory policymaking he also tried to draw a roadmap towards creating more collaborative and evidence-based public policies. The role of university spaces as knowledge centres and immersion labs was focused to learn about and facilitate the solving of local problems.