Service delivery in India poor, says World Bank

New Delhi, June 28 : The World Bank is critical of the election system in India on the grounds that it impinges adversely on the service delivery of public goods, notwithstanding the fact that innovations in different sectors and states have had positive results on citizens.

"The unregulated cost of elections and the lack of legitimate funding sources (like a system of public funding) have created incentives to extract rents from administrative functions-- including the delivery of services--to fund campaign expenses or pay contribution back", a recent report of the Bank says.

The report, entitled 'Reforming Public Services in India--Drawing lessons from success,' focusses on successful innovations in service delivery.

The report cites a national survey of major public services--elementary schools, public hospitals, public transport, drinking water facilities and public food distribution-- by the Public Affairs Centre as having concluded that 'India has done well in terms of providing basic access to such services, but far less well in terms of ensuring their quality, reliability and effectiveness.' But the report in a caustic comment say ''the service delivery outcomes in India remain poor on the whole.'' Apart from highlighting the systemic problems with the delivery of public services, the report commends various Chief Ministers for their efforts in this regard.

Highligting the centrality of the political leadership in triggering service delivery reforms, the report says in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, reforms were frequently a product of the vision of leaders.

"In AP, the fact that the state was led by a politician with a fascination for technology played a role in propelling e-governance reforms. While in MP, the fact that the leader was committed to a vision of governance based on community participation and decentralistaion clearly influenced the choice of reforms during his tenure. In Karnataka, the political leadership sought to transform Bangalore into a leader among cities, using Singapore as a model", the report says.

In a similar tone, the report says that at the national level, telecommunication reform was pushed by the Prime Minister's Office as a part of the larger developmental vision aimed initially at technological innovation and then at strengthening India's overall competitiveness in the global economy.

In Tamil Nadu, the Dravidian parties- in power since 1967--were deeply influenced by a common ideology that believed in the importance of female emancipation, the eradication of caste, reservation for backward groups and family planning to promote development.

The defeat of the Congress in the 1967 state elections in Tamil Nadu over the issue of food security convinced both the DMK and AIADMK to create a social safety net through a system of universal system of public food distribution and mid day meal programmes for school children and other groups.

"In fact, the DMK and AIADMK engaged in a process of active one-upmanship to extend the benefits of these programmes to a wider set of beneficiaries", the report says.

Similarly, in MP, opening up the marketing process for rural produce to private players was also an electoral winner because the move clearly benefitted farmers at the expense of a small group of traders who controlled the official mandi system.

The report says the weaknesses of acountability mechanism was a barrier to improving services across the board. Bureaucratic complexity and procedure make it difficult for the ordinary citizen to navigate the system for his or her benefit.

"Secrecy and lack of transparency that shroud government operations and programmes provide a fertile ground for corruption and exploitation", it adds.

The study examines 31 efforts by state governments in recent years to improve delivery systems. Focussing on sepcific innovations in service delivery across India, the study identifies common factors underlying their success.

In doing so, it highlights the efficacy of six instruments to improve service delivery-- fostering competition, simplfying transactions, restructuring agency processes, decentralisation, building broad political support for programme delivery and strenthening accountability mechanisms.

Covering a range of services and cases--such as ITC's e-Choupal, Madhya Pradesh's effort to decentralise teacher management, Karnataka's road transport corporation, and Tamil Nadu's success in improving human development outcome--the study draws lessons that can help improve service delivery across sectors and facilitiate the transplating of success stories to other settings.

UNI