Improving Service Delivery through Decentralization

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Improving Service Delivery through
Decentralization

• Dr. S.S. Meenakshisundaram
• National Institute of Advanced Studies
• Indian Institute of Science Campus
• Bangalore 560 012

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• So long as we do not discover or create a
  representative and democratic institution which
  will supply the local interest, supervision and
  care necessary to ensure that expenditure of
  money upon local objects conforms with the needs
  and wishes of the locality, invest it with
  adequate power and assign to it appropriate
  finances, we will never be able to evoke local
  interest and excite local initiative in the field
  of development.
• Balwantrai Mehta study team

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Concentrate on the delivery of

• Primary Health
• Primary Education
• Water Supply and Sanitation
• Poverty Alleviation Programmes
• particularly to the rural poor and the
  disadvantaged.

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• Identify
• the needs
• current levels of service, and
• enhancements desired
• in each sector
• in consultation with the people.
• It should be location specific.

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• Decentralization likely to be less difficult in
• Water Supply and Sanitation
• Poverty Alleviation Programmes
• for different set of reasons.
• Keep RD PR together at least at the State level.

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• Strategies for delivering primary health in the
  areas of
• Health care facilities
• Disease control
• Do we need to have a re-look at the role of the
  State in primary health?

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• Identify the role of PRIs in
• Curriculum development
• Recruitment of teachers
• Provision of facilities
• Supervision and Management
• Monitoring outcomes

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Areas of Concern

• Activity mapping
• Decentralized planning
• Capacity building
• Empowering the Gram Sabhas
• Integrating parallel bodies with PRIs
• Amending Sectoral Legislations

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Areas of Concern

• Transparency
• Accountability of Service Providers
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Social Audit
• Political Will

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What needs to be done?

• Make participatory local level planning
  mandatory.
• Assign demarcated roles to each level of the PRIs
  in every sector.
• Reduce Centrally sponsored and State schemes to
  the barest minimum.
• Provide adequate space for the PRIs even in those
  schemes.

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What needs to be done?

• Undertake administrative and fiscal devolution to
  match resources with functions.
• Take up capacity building programmes for both the
  elected and selected functionaries at all levels.
• Empower the Gram Sabha to ensure accountability.

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Thank you