हम और हमारी सरकार शासन साक्षरता के लिए नयी पहल

आवश्यक सार्वजनिक सेवाओं की गुणवत्ता कमजोर है, नागरिक भी अक्सर इस तरह के चूक के लिए उत्तरदायी राज्य को पकड़ने में असमर्थ हैं। रजिका सेठ Accountability Initiative में उत्तरदायित्व पहल की शिक्षा और विकास का नेतृत्व करती हैं।​ वह सिविल सोसाइटी संगठनों और जमीनी प्रशासकों की क्षमता बनाने के लिए अपने तरह के पहले कोर्स – हम और हमारी सरकार – के बारे में बताती हैं।

हम और हमरी सरकार के पाठ्यक्रम के पीछे क्या विचार है?

सरकार आम तौर पर समाज के लोगों की बेहतरी के लिए अलग-अलग योजनायें बनाती है। परन्तु अक्सर हम-आप सभी ने यह महसूस किया है कि ये जो सेवाएं हमें मिलती हैं, उनका लाभ हमें बेहतर तरीके से समय पर नहीं मिल पाता है। इससे मालुम चलता है कि सरकार की तरफ से जवाबदेही की बड़ी कमी है।

जब हमें सेवाओं का लाभ समय पर बेहतर तरीके से नहीं मिल पाता है, तब हम सरकार को भ्रष्ट कहकर अपना अंतिम निर्णय सुना देते हैं। यदि भ्रष्टाचार को छोड़ दें तो इसके अलावा क्या हमने कभी सरकार के अंदर झाँकने कि कोशिश की है कि क्यों ऐसा है कि शिक्षा में अच्छी गुणवत्ता नहीं है, क्यों पैसा समय पर लाभार्थी को नहीं मिल पाता, आखिर स्वास्थ्य सेवाएं क्यों बेहतर नहीं हो पा रहीं हैं? इन्हीं तरह के कई सवालों के जवाब यह पैसा कोर्स– ‘हम और हमारी सरकार’ हमारे प्रतिभागियों को देता है ताकि हमारे प्रतिभागी सरकार को बहुत करीब से समझें और उसके बाद वे सरकार के साथ और ज्यादा बेहतर तरीके से काम कर सकें।

इस कोर्स के लक्षित प्रतिभागी हर क्षेत्र में कार्य कर रहीं सामाजिक संस्थाओं के ज़मीमी स्थर के कर्मचारी और पंचायत प्रतिनिधि एवं पंचायत अधिकारी हैं। यह कोर्स हिंदी में करवाया जाता है।

इस कोर्स का महत्व क्या है?

हमारे प्रतिभागी पहले से ही बेहतर सेवा वितरण के लिए अलग-अलग क्षेत्रों में काम कर रहीं संस्थाओं में अपनी सेवाएं दे रहें हैं और किसी न किसी रूप में सरकार के साथ जुड़े हैं। ये क्षेत्र कोई भी हो सकते हैं चाहे वह शिक्षा हो, स्वास्थ्य हो, कृषि हो या फिर अन्य कोई क्षेत्र। हमारे पैसा कोर्स का उदेश्य यही है कि एक बेहतर सेवा वितरण प्रणाली की व्यवस्था हो। इसलिए आवश्यक है कि हमारे प्रतिभागी पहले सरकार की प्रशासनिक एवं वित्तीय व्यवस्था के साथ उसमें काम कर रहे लोगों को भी नजदीकी से समझें। जब हमारे प्रतिभागी सरकार की इस व्यवस्था को अच्छे ढंग से समझ पाएंगे और जान पायेंगे कि वास्तव में समस्याएं  कहाँ-कहाँ पर हैं, तभी वे सरकार के साथ जुड़कर ज्यादा बेहतर तरीके से काम कर पायेंगे।

इस कोर्स की विशेषता यही है कि यह कोर्स शुरुआत से अंत तक प्रतिभागियों को ज़मीनी हक़ीकत से अवगत करवाता है और उनके खुद के अनुभवों को बुनते हुए उनकी सरकारी कामकाज पर पकड़ को और मजबूत बनाता है। इस पैसा कोर्स को मुख्य रूप से तीन मोड्यूल में बांटा है:

मोड्यूल 1 – सरकार कौन है?

मोड्यूल 2 – सरकार कैसे चलती है?

मोड्यूल 3 – सरकार और जनता का रिश्ता क्या है?

इस कोर्स के प्रतिभागियों क्या सीखेंगे?

  • इस कोर्स को करने के बाद प्रतिभागी समझ पायंगे कि विकेंद्रीकरण क्या है और साथ ही भारत में विकेंद्रीकरण की आवश्यकता और ज़मीनी हकीकत पर अपनी समझ बना पायेंगे। कोर्स के बाद प्रतिभागी स्वयं विश्लेषण कर पाएंगे कि सरकार और उसमें काम कर रहे नौकरशाह कौन हैं और उनको समझना क्यों जरुरी है। वे समझ पाएंगे कि नौकरशाहों के काम करने के तरीके से सेवा वितरण पर क्या प्रभाव पड़ता है।
  • साथ ही हमारे प्रतिभागी सामाजिक क्षेत्र के कार्यक्रमों, योजनाओं, बजट, निधि प्रवाह और इन सभी में जटिलताओं को समझ पाएंगे। वे समझ पायेंगे कि क्यों पैसा जमीनी स्तर पर समय पर नहीं पहुँच पाता और इसे पहुंचाने में कहाँ पर सरकार की तरफ से चूक हो जाती है, जिससे सेवा वित्तरण पर प्रभाव पड़ता है।
  • इस कोर्स में प्रतिभागी यह भी सीखेंगे की सरकार सेवा वितरण में सुधार लाने के लिए क्या कदम उठा सकती है। इस कोर्स के बाद हमारे प्रतिभागी यह भी सीख पाएंगे कि क्यों सरकार को समझने के साथ-साथ जनता तथा उनसे जुड़ी हुई अलग-अलग समस्याओं को भी जानना बहुत आवश्यक है और कैसे दोनों सरकार और जनता मिलकर सेवा वित्तरण प्रणाली में सुधार ला सकती है ।

 

पाठ्यक्रम के लिए कौन पंजीकरण कर सकता है और लोग कैसे शामिल हो सकते हैं?

अभी के लिए, पाठ्यक्रम जमीनी स्तर पर काम कर रहे संगठनों के लिए खुला है। विवरण यहां पाया जा सकता है और मुझे प्रश्नों के लिए rseth@accountabilityindia.org पर पहुंचा जा सकता है।

राजस्थान में पोषण की स्थिति

हाल ही में नीति आयोग द्वारा देश में पोषण के क्षेत्र में नए सिरे से ध्यान देने के लिए “राष्ट्रीय पोषण रणनीति” (National Nutrition Strategy) शुरू की गई है | ध्यातव्य है की राष्ट्रीय पोषण रणनीति के ढांचे के अंतर्गत कुपोषण मुक्त भारत की परिकल्पना की गई है जो की स्पष्ट रूप से ‘स्वच्छ भारत एवं स्वस्थ भारत’ अभियान से जुड़ी हुई परिकल्पना है | राजस्थान बाकी राज्यों से पोषण दरों पर नीचे है |  अगर पिछले वर्षों में देखा जाए तोह पोषण पर राज्य में आवंटन और सेवायें का बहोत महत्व था |  इनमें लगातार कमियों का कारण जान ना बहोत ज़रूरी है अगर कुपोषण को मिटाना है | 

आंकड़े संगीन है |  राष्ट्रीय परिवार स्वास्थ्य सर्वेक्षण 2015-16 (NFHS-4), के अनुसार राजस्थान में 5 वर्ष से कम आयु के करीब 39.1 प्रतिशत बच्चे औसत से कम लम्बाई के है वहीँ 6-59 महीने के बच्चों में से लगभग 60.3 प्रतिशत बच्चे एनीमिया के शिकार है तथा 5 साल से कम उम्र के बच्चों में लगभग 36.7 प्रतिशत बच्चों का वजन उम्र के अनुसार प्रमाणित वजन से कम पाया गया है | राज्य में 15-49 साल की महिलाओं में से लगभग 46.8 प्रतिशत महिलायें एनीमिया से ग्रस्त है |

भारत सरकार द्वारा संचालित SRS 2016 के अनुसार राज्य में शिशु मृत्यु दर 41 (प्रति हजार जीवित जन्म) है जो राष्ट्रीय औसत (34) से 7 अंक अधिक है | 2011-13 के रेकॉर्ड के अनुसार इसी प्रकार मातृ मृत्यु दर 244 (प्रति लाख जन्म) है जो राष्ट्रीय औसत (167) से 77 अंक अधिक है | अत: इससे स्पष्ट होता है की राज्य में पोषण की स्थिति ख़राब है |

राजस्थान राज्य के प्रमुख अख़बार “दैनिक भास्कर” में 8 सितम्बर 2017 को  प्रकाशित खबर के अनुसार राज्यभर में तीन साल में पांच से कम उम्र के 52 हजार से ज्यादा बच्चों की मौत हुई है | बच्चों की मौत की तीन प्रमुख वजह बताई गई है

  • प्री-मैच्योर डिलीवरी, बच्चों का कम वजन एवं निगरानी का अभाव |
  • निमोनिया और बाकी इन्फेक्शन |
  • क्रोनिक इलनेस, रेफ़र में देरी |

लेकिन राजस्थान में पोषण से सम्बंधित केंद्र एवं राज्य सरकार द्वारा विभिन्न योजनायें एवं कार्यक्रम चलाये जा रहे है जिसमे समेकित बाल विकास सेवाएँ, मिड-डे-मील एवं राजीव गाँधी किशोरी सशक्तिकरण पोषण योजना प्रमुख है| इन योजनाओं एवं कार्यक्रमों के क्रियान्वयन में बजट की महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका रहती है |

                                            राज्य पोषण का बजट विवरण  (तालिका संख्या 1)                    

                                                                   (राशि करोड़ में)

       

मद

2016-17

लेखे

2017-18

बजट अनुमान

2017-18

संशोधित अनुमान

2018-19

बजट अनुमान

राजस्व (Revenue)

1420.81

 

1503.54

1574.49

1988.74

पूंजीगत (Capital)

38.43

 

104.80

66.75

52.37

कूल

1459.24

 

1608.34

1641.24

2041.11

स्रोत:- राज्य बजट पुस्तिका, राजस्थान सरकार

ऊपर दी गयी तालिका में मुख्यत: आई.सी.डी.एस. एवं सबला का बजट शामिल है | इस तालिका के अनुसार वित्तीय वर्ष 2017-18 के बजट अनुमान  (₹ 1608.34 करोड़) से वर्ष 2018-19 का बजट अनुमान लगभग ₹ 432.77 करोड़ रुपये ज्यादा है और इसी तरह वर्ष 2017-18 के बजट अनुमान (₹ 1608.34) से वर्ष 2017-18 का संशोधित अनुमान करीब ₹ 33 करोड़ रुपये ज्यादा है | अत: इससे ज्ञात होता है की विगत वित्तीय वर्षों के मुकाबले में पोषण पर आवंटित बजट में बढ़ोतरी की जा रही है |

                                             राज्य बजट में पोषण का हिस्सा (तालिका संख्या 2)    

                                                                     (राशि करोड़ में)

वर्ष

कूल राज्य बजट

पोषण पर कूल आवंटन

प्रतिशत

2016-17 (लेखे)

162099.88

1459.24

 

0.90%

2017-18 (संशोधित अनुमान)

190615.12

1641.24

0.86%

2018-19 (बजट अनुमान)

212274.66

2041.11

0.96%

स्रोत:- राज्य बजट पुस्तिका, राजस्थान सरकार

उपरोक्त तालिका के अनुसार वर्ष 2016-17 में राज्य के कूल बजट अनुमान का 0.90 प्रतिशत पोषण के लिए आवंटित किया गया जो की 2017-18 संशोधित अनुमान में घटकर 0.86 प्रतिशत रह गया | इसके अलावा 2018-19 में राज्य के कूल बजट अनुमान का 0.96 प्रतिशत पोषण के लिए आवंटित किया गया ! इससे पता चलता है की विगत वर्षो में पोषण पर राज्य में आवंटन बढ़ा है , लेकिन बढ़ोतरी बहुत कम है !

                                राज्य में पोषण की मुख्य योजनाओं के बजटीय प्रावधान (तालिका संख्या 3)                  

                                                                        (राशि करोड़ में)

आयोजना

आवंटन

2017-18

बजट अनुमान

2017-18

संशोधित अनुमान

2018-19

बजट अनुमान

समेकित बाल विकास सेवाएँ

कुल बजट

 

1298.34

 

1332.24

 

 

1706.11

 

केंद्र का योगदान

552.44

 

565.47

 

645.40

 

मध्यान्ह भोजन योजना

कुल बजट

438.03

462.97

 

540.00

 

केंद्र का योगदान

283.03

279.07

 

258.00

 

स्रोत:- राज्य बजट पुस्तिका, राजस्थान सरकार

उपरोक्त तालिका में पोषण के लिए केंद्र की प्रमुख योजनाओं के बजटीय प्रावधान को दर्शाती है |

  • समेकित बाल विकास सेवाएँ : वित्तीय वर्ष 2017-18 में आई.सी.डी.एस. पर आवंटित बजट राशि ₹ 1298.34 करोड़ रुपये थी जो की संशोधित बजट में बढ़कर ₹ 1332.24 करोड़ रुपये हो गई | इससे पता चलता है की सरकार बजट राशि बढ़ी है लेकिन यह अभी काफी नहीं है | वर्ष 2017-18 की अनुमानित बजट राशि से 2018-19 की अनुमानित बजट राशि की तुलना में लगभग 31.04 प्रतिशत की बढ़ोतरी की गई |
  • मध्यान्ह भोजन योजना : एम.डी.एम. में वर्ष 2017-18 की अनुमानित बजट राशि से 2018-19 की अनुमानित बजट राशि की तुलना में लगभग ₹ 102 करोड़ रुपये बढ़ोतरी हो गई है |

वर्तमान में राजस्थान सरकार कूल बजट राशि का मात्र 1 प्रतिशत के आस-पास पोषण पर खर्च करती है, यह राज्य की पोषण सम्बन्धी जरूरतों को देखते हुए बहुत कम है | पोषण से जूडी योजनाओं का क्रियान्वयन ठीक तरीके से किया जाए तथा उनके बजट में बढ़ोतरी हो यह ज़रूरी है  | पिछले वर्षों की तुलना में पोषण के लिए आवंटित बजट में सामान्य बढ़ोतरी  आई है जिसका सीधा असर स्वास्थ्य से जुड़े सूचकों पर पड़ सकता है |

______________________________

सूत्र: राष्ट्रीय पोषण रणनीति मसौदा- नीति आयोग, भारत सरकार,

दैनिक भास्कर, जयपुर , राजस्थान

राष्ट्रीय परिवार स्वास्थ्य सर्वेक्षण 2015-16 प्रतिवेदन

आर्थिक समीक्षा प्रतिवेदन 2016-17 प्रतिवेदन, राजस्थान सरकार

राज्य बजट पुस्तिका, राजस्थान सरकार

Can we afford to overlook homes in learning outcomes?

As part of an internship at the Accountability Initiative, I had the opportunity to assist and administer surveys in a research project which aims to study how teachers use their time during work hours in government schools across Delhi. My first experience on field taught me that it is not only the school and teachers which play an important part in a student’s life; what happens at home is equally critical. It led me to the following question – why is the home yet to be given adequate attention in policy research and decision making when it comes to learning?

Almost a year ago, the Right to Education Act (RTE) 2009 was amended to include learning outcomes. Simply put, learning outcomes indicate what a child should, ideally, have learnt by the time he or she moves from a grade to a higher one – or what the outcome of the year’s education should have been. These outcomes are to be measured using class-wise and subject-wise lists prepared by the teachers, and assessed by a revised method of evaluation. They are a leap from a system which has primarily focussed on increasing access to schools thus far.

The RTE Act was a landmark law and reinforced the importance of free and compulsory education for children between 6 to 14 years of age. What followed was empirical research analysing the importance of a sound system of public service delivery and this has been the focus ever since. Different aspects of the system such as teacher quality, access to technology and better evaluation systems have been discussed in the policy arena and the government has acted on them as well. Changes made to policies such as the No Detention Policy (NDP) and the Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) have showed us how the government is constantly building on the institutional system of public education.

However, can policy research and decision making still afford to overlook the background of students and what they experience at homes?

In the course of interviews I was part of, I noticed caveats to the usual narrative. The most important one being the household environment. Household environment here refers to any happenings inside the home. Even as this is one among different factors which affect learning outcomes of children from economically weaker sections of society, teachers had a lot to say on this. When asked about difficulties teachers faced inside a classroom,they most often stated that the children grasped and retained only a part of what was being taught in class. In addition, as per them, this happens because the children are many times first generation learners, as a consequence of which they do not receive any assistance from the family in revising concepts taught in school.

Parents may also consider education to be a distant priority, if at all. The experience of households made unstable by alcoholism or abuse, they said, led to immediate consequences such as loss of core capacities to learn and interest in studies.

Evidently, consideration of a child’s psycho-social needs when designing or improving a system which tends to their needs is key to the debate on learning.

Learning outcomes should not only be measured as a consequence of facilities provided at the school but should also look at the household environment a student comes from. Otherwise, it seems incorrect and illogical to expect children to learn purely based on increasing teacher quality and access to resources.

Linking India with blockchain

This blog is part of a series on blockchain technology, governance and its implications for e-Governance in India. 

While presenting the Union Budget this year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made an important if not surprising mention on the government’s inclination to explore the potential of blockchain technology. The announcement in the Parliament, India’s highest policymaking echelon, is only one example in a string of high profile moves on blockchain. Various Indian states have begun integrating the technology in governance operations already.

Andhra Pradesh has emerged as a frontrunner in this respect. The government has invested considerable efforts in blockchain governance mechanisms in at least two key departments- management of land records and vehicle registrations. A first of its kind decision, the port city of Vishakapatnam is also being developed into a FinTech hub with blockchain at its core.

Much like Andhra Pradesh’s initiatives to understand the use cases in various government departments, Karnataka recently organised a hackathon on blockchain inviting practitioners and academics to deliberate real-life governance scenarios, and has announced a white paper too. Maharashtra and Telangana are among other states who are embracing the technology. A pilot project is planned on tamper proof land transaction data in Maharashtra while Telangana is using blockchain to eliminate fraudulent data in land records. The private sector’s role in innovating on each of these is of note.

While talks of blockchain revolutionising antiquated governance practices has swept policy circles; the technology is thought to offer some very concrete advantages. The experience of countries which have been successful at creating blockchain-enabled societies, such as Estonia, provide some insight into the change blockchain can usher. From secure voting to a more efficient judicial system, the technology has opened up new avenues for good governance for the country. Blockchain has facilitated ease of use, given people power over their information (which is not the case in India as it proposes centralised mechanisms for data access), and most importantly offered much-needed transparency in fundamental governance practices.

Thus, by minimising human intervention, the adoption of the technology is seen to be a step towards enabling service delivery that is truly accountable to the people.

Yet given blockchain’s potential as a disruptive technology as observed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi among others, one cannot help but wonder how India’s behemoth and complex bureaucratic system adapts to this change. If history is to serve as an example, e-Governance initiatives in Karnataka in the 1980s introduced new technologies (namely digitsation of records and regularisation of computer usage in day-to-day activities) but various issues of implementation emerged quickly. In a previous blog, we spoke of how early resource managers critical to implementation moved on while systems remained weak. Uptake for even simple e-Governance processes such as using spreadsheets for calculations prove markedly slow.

There are thus three critical questions to be considered now.

Is there a danger that blockchain technology is being overemphasised for good governance in India when allied implementation issues remain unresolved? Secondly, is adequate foresight being given to ramifications of this technology on a system-wide scale, and to what extent will the private sector play a role? Lastly, how will the changes play out for grassroots administrators and service delivery by them?

 

Accountability Initiative launches new learning course on governance

While the quality of essential public services provided in India is weak, citizens too are often unable to hold the state accountable for such lapses. Accountability Initiative’s Learning and Development lead Rajika Seth talks about Hum aur Hamaari Sarkaar,  a first of its kind course to build the capacity of Civil Society Organisations and grassroots administrators to identify where the loopholes in the governance structure.

What is the thought behind the course Hum aur Hamaari Sarkaar and who are course participants?

The course Hum aur Hamaari Sarkaar enables participants to undertake critical analysis of state capability in India as it exists today and supports them in finding answers to questions encountered every day such as: Why are not beneficiaries receiving the money due to them in time? Why is the quality of education provided by the government weak? Why is the standard of health services not improving? What prevents citizens from demanding better services?

The modules of the course include easily understandable pieces on what the government structure is, how the government functions and what is the ideal relationship between the government and people. Each module has been created on the basis of existing scholarship on the issues, and deals with topics such as decentralisation, understanding bureacracy, fund flow mechanisms and the need for active citizenship.

Our participants are usually grassroots-level development professionals working towards improving public services, members of Civil Society Organisations and Panchayat Samitis. The course thus speaks to an audience which is at the frontline of service delivery, both as administrators and recipients of services.

What is the relevance of a course such as this?

Even if the government wishes to deliver a transparent, accountable and well-functioning governance system, state agencies and public authorities seem to lack the capacity (technical and administrative; political and institutional) to deliver quality public services.

This capacity gap leaves a significant need to enhance the competency of the administrative system and its human resources and our course does just that by placing state capability at the front of the debate on governance and accountability and training the existing cadre of practitioners who engage with the system.

What change does the course hope to achieve? 

Through the course participants will not only learn about the root causes of administrative and fiscal dysfunctionality of governance systems on the ground but also about the most effective means of improving state capacity. Equipped with this knowledge, they should be able to apply a holistic mindset to on-ground interventions that are meant to strengthen administrative and organisational systems of government functioning, facilitate better coordination between different departments and levels of the government, and institute mechanisms to ensure citizen-state accountability in the design and provision of public goods. In specific, through this course, participants will be able to: 
 

  • Describe the meaning of ‘decentralisation’ and critique its application in India today. 
  • Decipher the Indian bureaucracy and their importance within the government system.
  • Explain the structure of the Indian bureaucratic system and the complicated environment within which they work.
  • Analyse the complications in the fund flow system, the Indian budget system, and how schemes are formulated and implemented. They will know why money often does not reach its destination on time and the reasons for delay.
  • Engage with the government better at the frontline of service delivery.
  • Discuss the problems related to citizen engagement with the state and how citizens can strengthen their voice to ensure enforceability of their demands.
  • Explain Social Accountability and how Social Accountability tools can be used effectively.

The end goal is to enhance the quality of services provided by the government! A well-informed citizenry who can engage with the administrative system is critical for this. 

Who can register for the course and how can people be involved? 

For now, the course is open to organisations working at the grassroots level. Details can be found here and I can be reached at rseth@accountabilityindia.org for queries. 

Making the choice of becoming an IAS officer

This blog is part of a series of conversations with young IAS officers, their motivations and their insights from working in the civil services.

Kiran Vaska is an IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre. Most recently, he was the Mission Director of the National Health Mission in Madhya Pradesh.  He shares his experiences. 

Kiran_0.png

What motivated you to look at a career in bureaucracy? 

Getting into the IAS was a childhood dream. The initial motivation I remember was from the stories my grandparents and parents told me praising the role collectors played in their times. But as I grew older and especially after a stint in the private sector, I realised that the best way to serve the country was by joining the civil services. The wide and varied experience the service, especially the IAS, offers is unparalleled. The positive impact one can bring in the lives of so many people right from the first day and every day in office is the biggest motivation.

What is a major challenge you have encountered while implementing the National Health Mission? 

Apart from the ubiquitous challenge of shortage of trained personnel, the major challenge I encountered was to keep them motivated to provide quality services that in turn motivate citizens towards a health seeking behaviour.

Have you seen your department responding to development needs?

The department, I think, is continuously evolving to respond to development needs. This is being done by regular upgradation not only in the number of services but also in their quality. For example, programmes like Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) and focused approach towards Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) is an effort of the department to respond to the emerging needs. RBSK expands the scope of child health from just reducing infant mortality to improving survival outcomes through early detection and management of disabilities, disorders, deficiencies and diseases. Similarly, an increasing focus on NCDs is a clear indication of responding to the emerging threat of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

Can you share one memory of the field which touched you?

There were many such moments, but the one I cherish the most is the support we got for the programme to train students from weak socio-economic backgrounds in the district for engineering and medical entrance exams. Not only did a large number of teachers volunteer to work extra hours but also many from the general public volunteered to teach these students,. The programme was a great success and many children from the backward areas of the district were admitted into IITs, NITs and other government medical colleges.

The first part of this blog series can be found here.

We want to hear from you! Write to us at socialmedia@accountabilityindia.org if you would like to share your experience of being an IAS officer. 

Social Audits: The Indian Experience

Social audits have been adapted very organically into the implementation process of a number of schemes in India. This blog explores why and how citizens can use social audits as a monitoring tool for government schemes and programmes. 

What is a social audit?

In the context of government schemes, a social audit is an accountability tool that measures, evaluates, identifies gaps in service delivery and elicits promises to rectify these gaps with the direct participation of intended beneficiaries in this process. In its essence, social auditing is a monitoring tool that empowers citizens to not only keep a track of utilisation of funds but most importantly gauge the effectiveness of a scheme by looking at its impact, whether the scheme has been beneficial for its target audience and allows an organisation to evaluate the sustainable roll out of a scheme.

The word ‘audit’ is derived from the Latin term ‘audire’ which means ‘to hear’.  True to its etymology, a very important component of a social audit is the public hearing that follows the evaluation process, where informed citizens raise concerns that are addressed in real time by the concerned authority figures with promises of immediate rectification.

The process of social auditing of government schemes is fairly straightforward. For instance, under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) which enshrined social audits in the Act, the first step is to gather all the records regarding the scheme such as muster rolls, maintained by the administration are collected and pored over. Based on these readings, surveys are prepared and social auditors administer the surveys across the geographical area of the audit and also conduct spot inspections.

During the survey, awareness about the scheme is also generated, letting the recipients themselves bridge the gap between what the scheme offered and what they actually got (which might throw up glaring disparities in service delivery). The participants in the survey are then called for a ‘jan sunwai’ (public hearing) which is attended by Gram Sabha members, local administrative officers, the point person for the scheme and sometimes even local politicians. Based on the findings from the survey and their newly realised grievances, citizens are in a position to question lacunae in fund and work allocation, completion reports on status of work and distribution of benefits. An attempt is then made to reconcile issues on the spot and where relevant, future administrative action is promised, with scope for follow-up on such actions.

How is a social audit useful?

As is evident, social audits help empower citizens to be directly involved in the programmes of a welfare state and to raise grievances before an authority figure(s), instead of being mute recipients of government doles. A realisation of what one is entitled to by law and the empowerment that comes along with demanding this rightful entitlement is a happy by-product of a social audit.

From the perspective of the agency that is implementing the scheme, it is a means to evaluate how the scheme is being rolled out, identify lacunae that are impeding service delivery and to an extent, even for relationship building with a community to disperse feelings of mistrust and disenchantment.

What can be audited?

Statutorily, quite a few schemes have made social audits a necessary part of their implementation. As mentioned earlier, MGNREGA is one of the frontrunners in this aspect, with the Act having mandated social audits every six months to monitor whether works are in consonance with the annual village plans. The CAG has also prepared the MGNREGA Audit of Schemes Rules in furtherance of this mandate. The National Food Security Act endorses periodic social audits of fair price shops, targeted PDS and other welfare schemes under the Act. Guidelines for monitoring implementation of the Mid-Day Meal scheme through social audits are also in place.

More recently, governments in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have initiated social audits of development projects and welfare schemes related to rural areas. The CAG has also recommended social audit of local bodies’ schemes for better accountability of the effectiveness of fund allocation.

In a recent development, Meghalaya became the first state in India to legislate a Social Audit law which makes social audit of state-run schemes mandatory.

Who can conduct a social audit?

The Department of Rural Development in states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Meghalaya have set up their Society for Social Audit and Transparency which are autonomous institutions that conduct social audits of the MGNREG Scheme. This is in furtherance of the Social Audit Manual of the Ministry of Rural Development which requires every State to set up an independent Social Audit Unit consisting of resource persons from the State, District and Village as well as experts on relevant themes.

Social audits are conducted in partnership with civil society organisations, with auditors emerging from among scheme beneficiaries, who are trained over a period of time on how to conduct a social audit. Since awareness generation is an important component of these audits, it becomes necessary to have conduits who can be relied upon to transfer factually correct information.

A successful social audit requires a bureaucratic will to listen and to remedy and a strategy to mobilise in order to air discontent without being confrontational. An audit does not end with a ‘jan sunwai’ but requires follow up of promises and concurrent actions, without which it would just become another mundane exercise in identifying gaps that may or may not get rectified.

To learn more about the process, limits and potential of conducting social audits, click here.

Interactive: Social Accountability, The People’s Voice in Governance

Click on this interactive primer to know more about social accountability and why people should be involved in governance.  

 

Tool 1: Make Use of Grievance Redressal Mechanisms  

 

Tool 2: Know about the Citizen Charter  

Tool 3: Social Audits- The Indian Experience  

A social audit sees the direct participation and feedback of people on the government services they receive. Know about the rich history and impact of social audits in India here.

Attitudes that block e-Governance

This blog is part of a series on the rollout and progress of e-Governance in India. 

Any discussion on e-Governance is peppered with tired, self-evident assertions, which mostly focus on why e-Governance is so necessary. Attend any conference on e-Governance and the presentations, whether by government officers or those who collaborate with them, will dwell for long on ‘disintermediation’, ‘business process re-engineering’, ‘transparency’, ‘accountability’, and other such un-impeachable words.

Yet, if reduction of corruption were to be chosen as a measure for the efficacy of e-Governance measures, nearly all such efforts are of no value.

A couple of years back, Accountability Initiative took up the ‘Paisa for Panchayats’ Project. This was an exercise in fiscal tracking, which aimed to ascertain how much money is spent by all government departments put together, within the jurisdiction of a Gram Panchayat. The rationale for undertaking this exercise was the belief that if citizens could easily access what each department of the government was spending in her vicinity, she might be prompted to ask them questions and take a greater interest in governance in her area. This was also prompted by the belief that efforts at fiscal decentralisation had not only flagged, but also reversed, so that all the social accountability practices that government boasted about, were being implemented only upon a tiny slice of the entire expenditure of the government; the slice sent to the Gram Panchayats.

Our research, conducted in the 30 Gram Panchayats of Mulbagal Taluk in Kolar District, Karnataka, showed that the annual expenditure of the major departments of the government in the area of each Panchayat was in the range of Rs. 5 to 7 crore, but the Gram Panchayat had effective control and supervisory responsibilities over a mere 3 to 5 per cent of this expenditure. While these findings made for a strong case to align fiscal transfers with the range of functions devolved upon the Panchayats, we believed that such an exercise would require political support. As we were not sure that such political support would emerge, we suggested to the government that it should devise an expenditure information network that would put out in the public domain in real time, allocations, releases and expenditures under each stream, disaggregated to the level of each Gram Panchayat in rural areas, and each Municipal ward in urban areas. This we argued, would make it much easier for ordinary citizens to check at a glance which department of the government was spending how much, when and for whom, in their neighbourhoods.

An expenditure information network of this nature, given Karnataka state’s commitment to e-Governance, required only a minor tweak to the already existing treasury management system. If all departments and their vendors were compelled while lodging their expenditure vouchers in the treasury, to disclose where exactly they were spending the money – this could be done if each habitation in rural areas and ward in urban areas were given a unique locational code, as also every service delivery institution, such as a school, hospital or crèche – then a simple algorithm could gather this data location wise and present it to any citizen.

I dare say it is an elegantly simple idea.

The reaction when we presented this suggestion to officials of the Finance Department, was depressingly predictable.

‘Raghu’, said my friend, a senior officer in the Finance department. ‘You are going to make my life miserable’.

And here lies the rub. e-Governance has to be convenient for the government; not necessarily for the citizen. Thus, there is a clear dichotomy in the government’s enthusiasm for e-Governance. It is most enthusiastically embraced when taxation systems are automated – the government loves to make it easier for citizens to pay their taxes and file their returns. The government is a lot more cautious when it comes to service delivery. Rarely does online application for a service suffice; the government would still insist that one visits the office to physically verify documents filed online. And finally, when it comes to the disclosure of expenditure details, e-Governance is given a wide berth by the government. As my friend says, it makes the life of the government miserable.

Yet, there is hope. New technologies and processes have the potential to be disruptive and in one fell swoop, the resistance to making expenditures transparent may be eroded. Blockchain technology, which has the potential to handle large lumps of data and enable their interaction much more easily than now, can replace several of today’s linear processes within the government. The sequence of approvals and scrutiny checks and balances can be removed and its place taken by machine intelligence and algorithms that are less fallible, less prejudiced and faster than current manual safeguards.

Would this shift happen, and if so when and where? That’s for the next blog.