CMS - in nutshell

Over these 20 years, CMS is known in the country differently to various people.

• » For many, it is a centre for media studies
• » There are several who know it as a credible social development research body
• » Some refer to it as a behavioral assessment and strategizing agency
• » For many CMS is premier public opinion research body specialising in poll studies
• » Many view it as an environmentally concerned organisation known for CMS VATAVARAN- Environment and Wildlife Film Festival & Forum
• » Others, often use its pioneering Annual Corruptions Studies
• » For some the CMS Media Lab is more renowned
• » A few know CMS for its Transparency Review
• » For others at home and abroad, its been a resource centre on various development and communication issues

Backed by field research CMS professionals have been in the forefront in some of the Rights and Reforms movements in the country starting with Right to Information movement in (1994), Electoral Reforms (2002) and Judicial Reforms (2007) some of which infact took off from CMS RESEARCH HOUSE. Social Audit was conceived and operationalised by its Chairman in the context of public services/ utilities starting with the first national panel (1992 - 95) and second (1994 - 97). It was in recognition of such pioneering initiatives that CMS Chairman was one of 20 eminent personalities from different fields with whom the Speaker's Roundtable was organised (2008) by Somnath Chatterjee.

Over 100 sought - after publications of CMS, with the exception of one in 1995 (Mass Media and Marketing Communication: Perspectives into 2020), are all made available free. CMS researchers and faculty is supported with state of art technologies, support services and a knowledge centre. Over the years CMS professionals have been active members of high level policy committees of several Ministries, including Health & Family Welfare, Environment & Forests, Rural Development, Information & Broadcasting, External Affairs, Science and Technology, Commerce,Telecommunication, etc.

CMS is not merely a centre of field research, it is a forum to bring together ideas and initiatives, it is an institution pursing convergence of research with changing goals, it is fountain-head of applied social research in different domains and is a think tank

Our Goal:CMS endeavours to work towards equity, social development and transparency in governance - through research, education and innovative communication

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CMS:Initiatives

CMSTeams (CMS Social,CMS Environment and CMS Communication) are engaged in monitoring, evaluation, strategies, outreach and policy advocacy on development issues. These teams have been experimenting with relevant and innovative research methodologies - some of the specialised tools used include social network analysis, participatory research methods, social assessment and rapid appraisal.

CMS Academy of Communication & Convergence Studies is a distinct school and only one to base on in-house research and exploratory laboratory work where scholars deal with emerging futures in trying to mould it and play in the process a pro-active role.

CMS Surveys teams have the capability to cover all the districts of the country, with large samples, in shortest possible time, competitively and comprehensively, with reliability. It is now gearing to use SMS, e-mail and such other newer ICT tools.

CMS Media Lab in the last 10 years has been systematically bringing out preoccupation of news channels.This is towards facilitating a more proactive approach by channels on basic issues of the country. Going beyond such an analysis, awards have been introduced for news channels/ bulletins ensuring transparency and "no taking and no giving". This is being experimented for Telugu news channels for last three years

India Corruption Studies series since 2000, guided by N Vittal, then CVC, has become a bench mark.The CMS PEE model is acknowledged as a more comprehensive way to understand the process with potential for correctives, going beyond generalised rankings.

In a matter of 10 years CMS VATAVARAN has become India's premier environment movement to sensitise larger public using visual media.This research based social mobilisation idea is appreciated globally and has in fact in 2007 become an international event.This journey has been guided by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shyam Benegal and Suresh Prabhu, just to mention a few.

CMS ENVIS Centre, supported by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, has been tracking, analysing and disseminating country wide as to how visual media covers environmental issues/ subjects.

Transparency Review completes four years after being inaugurated by Aruna Roy. It is edited by veteran editor Ajit Bhattacharjea.The journal covers every aspect of Right to Information, extending to related social entitlements and aspirations, such as Right to Work (NREGA), Right to Food, Right to Education, Right to Justice. It also covers role of media as communicator of these rights.

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LookingAhead

Looking back at our 20 years journey, I get immense satisfaction in our ability to develop and invest in CMS - the institution and its professionals. Physically, as an institution we have grown and now are across three campus with our own impressive infrastructure and facilities. This has provided us an enabling environment to further make a difference in our work and efforts.The professional and committed team at CMS is also something that I personally feel quite proud of — these are those who have consciously taken a path that may not rewarding as their contemporaries may be getting, but at the end of the day are aware that their work and efforts do help in contributing to change and our national development.Team and capacity development has been a conscious long term investment that is already showing results.

Yes, our work speaks for its self and we do feel we have contributed immensely in developing enabling policy initiatives, evaluating ongoing programmes for more effective outcomes, initiatives that have got issues to lime light and attention, innovative and participatory programmes that motivated not just experts and activists but also school children, teachers, youth, resident welfare associations, etc. Besides, also contributing in developing more efficient and appropriate research tools and methodologies for studying complex issues like impact, measuring change, estimating corruption, etc. However, all of us at CMS feel we have a long way to go yet! In this direction we have made some internal changes and also external strategic decisions.The internal changes include working in specialised teams and focusing on expanding our work in terms of new users and consumers. Enhancing and sharing our efforts through web and other ways including events, publications, etc. Externally we are now trying to engage in strategic collaborations across the world and within the country with organisation that complement our mission.

Another significant initiative has been the initiation of CMS Academy of Communication and Convergence studies. We felt that this is an appropriate way to share and put to use our 20 years of experience and research while also contributing to the field by preparing the next generation professionals. To celebrate 20 years of CMS, we are organising a series of national lectures at the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library during 2010-2012, on the theme of "Analysing and Envisioning India".We hope these lectures will be an inspiration and guidance for our future challenges.

Looking forward to your continued involvement and encouragement to CMS.

P N Vasanti
Founder Member & Director