A Civilisational Design Thinking Approach to Assess Indian Government Schemes Using a Novel 8-Parameter-Based Sustainability Evaluation Matrix

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-615-4_32How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Indian Knowledge Systems; Civilisational Design Thinking; Public Policy Evaluation; Dharmic Scorecard; Governance; OECD DAC

Abstract

This paper proposes the Dharmic Scorecard, an eight-parameter civilisational evaluation matrix newly derived from Indian Knowledge Systems for assessing public policy. Conventional evaluation frameworks, including the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) criteria, the Logical Framework Approach, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, prioritise standardised outcome-centric metrics. These metrics under-represent ethical, ecological, cultural, and civilisational dimensions central to governance in the Indian context. To address this gap, the Dharmic Scorecard operationalises eight parameters extracted through hermeneutic engagement with canonical governance texts: Dharma, Artha, Ṛta, Yogakṣema, Nīti, Śakti, Kalā-Saṃskṛti, and Śrama-Udyama. Using a 1–10 scoring rubric with an explicit evidence hierarchy, the study evaluates 128 flagship Union Government schemes across 12 sectors as an exploratory large-scale application of the framework. The findings show strong performance on Nīti and Yogakṣema, but weaker performance on Kalā-Saṃskṛti and Ṛta. No scheme achieves an average score above 7.0 under the rubric. The paper therefore contributes a structured foundational civilisational policy evaluation framework grounded in Indic statecraft traditions and demonstrates its initial analytical utility through a purposive application relevant to the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Arpit Awasthi
AU  - Chaitanya Solanki
AU  - B. K. Chakravarthy
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/15
TI  - A Civilisational Design Thinking Approach to Assess Indian Government Schemes Using a Novel 8-Parameter-Based Sustainability Evaluation Matrix
BT  - Proceedings of the Anubhuti 4.0: Discourses in Indian Knowledge Systems – Pathways of Culture, Inclusion, and Sustainability (ICIKS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 451
EP  - 483
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-615-4_32
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-615-4_32
ID  - Awasthi2026
ER  -