The Kautilya Society, NLUO is organising the 2nd Kautilya Society NLUO Essay Writing Competition 2026, inviting participants to showcase their analytical and writing skills on contemporary issues with a public policy perspective.
Eligibility
• Students pursuing Five-Year/Three-Year LLB programmes.
• Students pursuing One-Year/Two-Year LLM programmes.
• Students not pursuing law but interested in the subject area may also participate.
• Students, academicians, and legal professionals may participate.
Guidelines
• Theme: Open Theme.
• Essays may be based on any area of law, public policy, governance, or any other subject of contemporary relevance, provided a public policy angle is explored.
• International policy-oriented events may also be addressed, provided Indian public policy remains central to the submission.
• Manuscript word limit: 1500–2000 words, excluding endnotes.
• Submissions must be made in .doc/.docx format.
• The submission title must be used as the filename.
• Hyperlinking is the preferred mode of referencing.
• Font: Times New Roman, size 12.
• Line spacing: 1.5.
• All text must be justified.
• Each manuscript must contain an Abstract of 50–100 words, which shall not be included in the total word count.
• Similarity index must be less than 10% and the AI content requirement is 0%.
• Essays must be free from grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.
• Manuscripts not conforming to the guidelines may be rejected at the discretion of the Editorial Board.
Event details
• Last date for registration: 13 September 2026.
• Last date for submission: 28 September 2026.
• Registration fee for NLUO students: Rs. 200 for single authorship and Rs. 300 for co-authorship.
• Registration fee for non-NLUO students: Rs. 300 for single authorship and Rs. 500 for co-authorship.
• Prize for Winner: Rs. 6,000.
• Prize for Runner-up: Rs. 4,000.
• Prize for Second Runner-up: Rs. 2,500.
• Winners will receive an internship opportunity at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.
• Top submissions may be published on the Vidhi Blog, subject to approval by the External Panel.
How to apply
Interested candidates may apply by registering through the prescribed registration process by 13 September 2026 and submitting their essays through the submission form by 28 September 2026.
