Centre needs to facilitate reform process in states

Bangalore, June 28 (UNI) The Government of India can play an important role in facilitating cross-state interactions and structure incentives for reforms by states, a World Bank Specialist opined today.

Mr Vikram K Chand, a senior Public Sector Management Specialist at the World Bank, talking to newspersons here, said the Centre should also establish an overarching monitoring system and the reform process should not be seen as a mechanical process but a highly context bound one.

Drawing case studies from 25 successful projects across the country, on which he had come out with a report, Mr Chand said competition between agencies, cities and states help spread of ideas and innovations.

He said the report on reforming public services in India had underlined the need for greater political consensus on social development programmes, empowerment of the civil service through stability of tenure and managerial autonomy and greater civil society involvement in programme design and monitoring.

What emerged from the case studies was that the vision of political leadership along with consensus across party lines was key to triggering service delivery reforms.

Highlighting these lessons would help break the climate of pessimism that existed regarding the possibility of improving delivery systems, he added.

UNI VK RG SBA RAI1920