In the process of communication, the last step is

The correct answer is D) Feedback. In the standard communication model, the sender encodes an idea into symbols, the message travels through a channel, the receiver decodes it, and the receiver's response returns to the sender as feedback. Feedback closes the loop, so it is the last step in the process.

• A) Encoding is the first stage on the sender's side, where the idea is converted into words, gestures or images. It comes near the start, not the end.
• B) Message is the content that gets transmitted. It sits in the middle of the chain, between encoding and decoding.
• C) Decoding is the receiver interpreting the message. It is a late step, but feedback follows it, so decoding is not the last step.

The core concept is the closed-loop communication model (Shannon-Weaver and its later variants). For Mains, this links to governance: a government that gets no feedback from citizens, through grievance portals, public consultations or RTI, cannot judge whether its policy message was understood. Feedback is what makes the process two-way.

Trap: Many aspirants pick Decoding because it looks like the receiver's final act. Remember that the question asks for the last step of the whole process, and only feedback returns to the sender.