Nudge’ in public policy The ‘Nudge’ theory is predicated on th | Psyche-Simplified- One stop solution for Psychology Optional

Nudge’ in public policy
The ‘Nudge’ theory is predicated on the assumption that the decisions we make in everyday life are not completely rational and influenced by behavioural biases.
The supporters of this theory think that the way to make people make the right choice is to identify the psychological factors that lead to those choices and use behavioural interventions or ‘nudges’ to lead to better decision-making.
In this theory, small tweaks are done to gently push them towards a more desirable alternative.
For instance, in Africa, the government offered home-delivery of fertilisers to farmers because many farmers procrastinated the decision to buy fertilisers due to the effort involved in travelling to a market place to purchase it. The ‘nudge’ helped farmers buy fertilisers on time, which was good for their farm output.
A combination of nudge, incentives and mandate has been used by the policymakers so far in India. Swacch Bharat Mission, GiveItUp campaign for gas cylinder subsidy, and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao are some of the campaigns where nudge has been used successfully in recent years.