The Indian School of Public Policy (ISPP), in partnership with the Cheistha Kochhar Foundation, hosted the inaugural Cheistha Kochhar Nudge Awards 2026 on Aug 11. The Awards honour the life and legacy of Cheistha Kochhar, a dedicated public policy professional committed to using behavioural insights and evidence-based policymaking to drive change. Through this annual initiative, ISPP and the Cheistha Kochhar Foundation seek to recognise and encourage scalable, practical behavioural nudges, interventions rooted in psychology and economics, that simplify decision-making, improve citizen outcomes, and preserve individual choice.
The first Cheistha Kochhar Nudge Awards 2026 recognised three impactful initiatives, presenting each with a cash prize of ₹10 lakh to support their continued innovation:
- ThinkZone, represented by Binayak Acharya: PRAKASHAK: A government-embedded digital parental engagement programme in Odisha that delivers bite-sized, curriculum-aligned micro-learning activities to rural, low-income parents via WhatsApp, SMS, and automated calls to boost foundational literacy and numeracy.
- NammaKasa, represented by Jyothish V.M.: A frictionless, public civic-tech platform in Bengaluru that changes the default of civic reporting from private to public accountability, enabling citizens to report uncollected waste in under 30 seconds without downloading an app or creating an account.
- Project Mumbai, represented by Shishir Joshi: Plastic Recyclothon:A large-scale community recycling movement across Maharashtra that bridges the intent-to-action gap by establishing clear, scheduled plastic collection drives and turning recycled waste into public amenities such as park benches and bins.
The ceremony was graced by Dr. Ashok Lahiri, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog, as the Chief Guest, alongside Guests of Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag (Retd.), former Chief of the Army Staff and former High Commissioner of India to Seychelles, and Prof. (Dr.) Pulkit Khanna, Dean, Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences. The event brought together policymakers, behavioural scientists, academics, social entrepreneurs, and public leaders to celebrate innovative applications of behavioural science that address real-world public policy and development challenges across India.
Reflecting on the role of behavioural science in policymaking, Dr. Ashok Lahiri said, “India’s next frontier in public policy is not merely designing better schemes, but designing schemes around how citizens actually behave. Nudges can help bridge this gap by subtly changing the way choices are presented without taking away individual freedom.” He highlighted the potential of behavioural audits, field experiments and digital public infrastructure to test, measure and rapidly scale interventions that work, making governance more citizen-centric, outcome-oriented and fiscally efficient.
Speaking about Cheistha’s legacy, Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag (Retd.) remembered her as “God’s child, a wonder child and an angel,” whose energy, warmth and intellect left an impression wherever she studied and worked. “What she achieved in just 33 years, most of us cannot achieve in a lifetime. She has left a legacy behind,” he said, adding that while Cheistha may not be physically present, “she is within our hearts.”
