In 1997, the Government of India launched the ambitious “Citizen’s Charter” initiative both in central and state government departments in an effort to make public service providers more open and accountable. This study tracks the progress and efectiveness of this reform over the past decade. The study assessed nearly 760 charters from across the country, followed by interviews with more than 1,100 end-users and over 320 officials from diverse departments. The distribution of Citizen’s Charters by state and sector, design and content of the charters, access to and awareness about the charters, modalities of implementation, and impact on service delivery are analyzed in terms of both strengths and weaknesses. The study also highlights the implications for policy in order to take this reform forward.
The year 2007 was important for urbanization since the number of urban inhabitants surpassed rural dwellers as a percentage of the total world population. The world population is expected to become two-third urban by 2025. While the urbanization phenomenon is widely accepted as being an inevitable by-product of development, there are many undesirable outcomes that have resulted. With increasing population and increasing demand for urban infrastructure services, the capacities of local governments in many developing and newly industrialized countries are over-burdened.
The report presents results of a study commissioned by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan investigating the Quality and Equity with which the Universalisation of Elementary Education is carried out in Karnataka State
Ford Foundation fellow, Mr. L. C. Jain had conducted research into India's democratic development and the crucial role political parties have played in it.
Public Eye August, 2007
Compact voter's guide. Smaller & updated version of ABC of Voting...
In this study, we have made an attempt to assess the potential of land as a municipal financing tool in cities using a sample of four Indian cities. We have studied the institutional arrangements for land use between the urban development authorities and municipal corporations in the cities and have found that the responsibilities are often fragmented and sometimes unclear. The urban development authorities, being state government entities, are much better endowed with resources than municipal corporations. We find that if revenues from land leasing and sales by the urban development authorities were to accrue to municipal corporations, there is no clustering around any measure of central tendency and there is a huge range in the addition to municipality revenues that could result. Specifically, we find that there could be an increase in municipality’s total revenues to the extent of 33 percent, own source revenues to the extent of 90 percent, and property tax revenues to the extent of nearly 930 percent, should revenues from land leasing and sales by the urban development authorities accrue to municipal corporations. In all cities, revenues from land leasing and sales are put to productive use given a majority is spent on capital projects. There is also enough local control over resources to be spent. Public private partnerships relating to land are more common with urban development authorities than they are with municipal corporations. While our empirical findings are uncertain with respect to the impact of land lease or sales upon revenues, a general observation is that outright sale of land is more conducive for revenue potential than leasing. Finally, an incidental finding is that urban development authorities allocate small portions of their land than is required, for affordable housing for the urban poor.
Executive Summary of a study commissioned by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan investigating the Quality and Equity with which the Universalisation of Elementary Education is carried out in Karnataka State