The Case Studies in Accountability Series documents innovative accountability experiments being undertaken in the country. The first case study in this series documents the office of the Kerala Ombudsman, the only Ombudsman’s office of its kind in India that considers complaints against local governments.

In 2001, Kerala became the first, and only State in India, to set up an Ombudsman office for local governments (district and below). Like others around the world, the Kerala Ombudsman is tasked with resolving citizen’s complaints against government employees and offices. Unlike a typical court process, the Kerala Ombudsman follows an informal process, does not require legal representation, and attempts to ensure the execution before closing a case file. The Kerala Ombudsman considers only complaints against local self government institutions (LSGIs) and therefore tends to focus on service delivery and the interaction between local government and citizens. Click here to read the full report.