Power to the People : Indicators for Accountability

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Measuring and Fostering the Progress of
Societies Second OECD World Forum on
Statistics, Knowledge and Policy

• Power to the People Indicators for
  Accountability
• Presentation by
• Shailaja Chandra
• Executive Director
• National Population Stabilisation Fund
• Government of India
•  
• Istanbul, Turkey
• 27-30 June 2007

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Presentation Highlights

• Power to the People
• Indicators for Accountability
• The presentation is in 3 parts -
• The Government-Citizen partnership Bhagidari
  which empowered the public to hold Policy Makers
  Accountable.
• How Right to Information improved Governance.
• Measuring Inequity through GIS mapping and Census
  data.

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Bhagidari Government-Citizen Partnership
Part-I

• Aims
• To develop a democratic framework providing
  information to people to engage in collective
  action with the government.
• To address the cynicism and apathy of citizens
  towards civic issues.
• To enhance public scrutiny of government
  functioning
• To make government responsive and participatory

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Evolution of Bhagidari
Bhagidari Government-Citizen Partnership
Part-I

• Government felt the need to involve citizens in
  the planning process.
• This was necessary because with three levels of
  political representation public awareness about
  responsibility and accountability was poor.

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Part-I
NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF DELHI LEGISLATIVE
ADMINISTRATIVE SET UP
Population of New Delhi 13.85 Million
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Evolution of Bhagidari
Bhagidari Government-Citizen Partnership
Part-I

• Wide consultations were held with all
  stakeholders - Resident Welfare Associations,
  Market and Traders Associations and NGOs who were
  taught how government organisations function and
  to whom they are accountable.
• Representatives of the Resident Welfare
  Associations were acquainted with the process for
  
• viewing the status and
• measuring physical outcomes of projects and
  services.

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Information provided at Sensitization Workshops
Bhagidari Government-Citizen partnership
Part-I

• Organisational set up of each provider agency.
• Departmental hierarchy.
• Systems prescribed for grant of services.
• Average time taken to provide service.
• System for redressal of grievances.

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Part-I
Bhagidari Government-Citizen partnership
PROCESS

• Each RWA was trained in the dynamics of
  governance.
• RWAs became a focus for citizens issues relating
  to supply of water, electricity, sanitation and
  conservancy services, crime, womens security.
• More than 1800 Resident Welfare Associations were
  established.

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Bhagidari Government-Citizen partnership
Part-I
OUTCOME

• The RWAs were shaken out of their apathy.
• They questioned poor provision of services and
  insisted on improvement.
• The movement forced service providers to become
  responsive.

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Recognition . . .
Bhagidari Government-Citizen partnership
Part-I

• Bhagidari was awarded the United Nations Public
  Service Awards 2005 in the category of Improving
  Transparency, Accountability and Responsiveness
  in the Public Service from amongst 215 entries
  worldwide.

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Delhi Right to Information Act, 2001
Part-II

• Delhi enacted the Right to Information Act in
  2001.
• The Act provides every citizen the right to
  obtain information from government departments.

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Illustrative cases coming under the Delhi Right
to Information Act
Part-II

• 1 Information about the maintenance of public
  parks, roads of MCD/NDMC and encroachment on
  public areas or public property.
• 2 Details about road construction, quality of
  material used, measurement books and award of
  tenders.
• 3 Work orders issued by agencies like MCD
  alongwith names of contractors, amount paid to
  them and names of supervisory officials. Date of
  completion of the work.

Contd..
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Illustrative cases coming under the Delhi Right
to Information Act
Part-II

• 4 Operation of fair price shops, availability,
  quality of commodities supplied. Action taken on
  complaints of diversion of stocks, non supply to
  genuine card holders.
• 5 Criteria followed for acceptance or
  rejection of applications for admission to
  institutions/ schools.
• 6 Deployment of sweepers, gardeners and
  sanitary inspectors in a specific area or colony.

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Part-II
Status of Delhi Right to Information Act, 2001
Application Received and Disposed off (Upto
March, 2007)
Source Department of Administrative Reforms,
Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi.
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Bhagidari Right to InformationSummary of
Outcomes
Part-II

• The combination of the Bhagidari movement and
  the Right to Information Act has helped the
  public to
• To speak out and bring up public issues in a
  united manner.
• To insist on being heard.
• To made participatory democracy the bulwark of
  urban governance.

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Part-III
Measuring Inequity through GIS Maps and Census
Data
India's Population Population growth is one of
India's biggest challenges. Since 1951 the
population of the country has increased from 361
million to 1 billion.
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Part-III
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Part-III
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MAP OF INDIA
Population of India is 1.03 billion.
Part-III
India has a federal structure with 28 states and
7 Union Territories.
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Map of Madhya Pradesh state in India(One out of
28 states in India)
Part-III
Population of Madhya Pradesh is 60.35 million
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Map of Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh
State(Out of 45 districts in the state)
Part-III
Population of Jhabua district is 1.4 million
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Part-III
Example - 1
USING GIS MAPS CENSUS DATA MADHYA PRADESH STATE
Contd..
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USING CENSUS DATA
Example 1 Contd..
Part-III
gt10Kms
Within 0-5 Kms
5-10 Kms
Contd..
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State Madhya PradeshDistrict - Jhabua
Example 1 Contd..
Part-III
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Example - 2
Part-III
Map of Bihar state in India(Out of 28 states in
India)
Population of Bihar is 83 million
Contd..
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Example 2 Contd..
Part-III
Map of Araria district of Bihar State(One
district out of 37 districts in the state)
Contd..
Population of Araria district is 2.1 million
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Example 2 Contd..
Part-III
USING GIS MAPS CENSUS DATA BIHAR STATE
Contd..
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USING CENSUS DATA
Example 2 Contd..
Part-III
Contd..
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State BiharDistrict - Araria
Example 2 Contd..
Part-III
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What has been achieved

• The amalgamation of GIS Mapping and Census Data
  has given district and sub-district level
  information in visual form.
• The distances of villages from primary health
  facilities have depicted underserved areas with a
  high degree of specificity.
• The bar charts representing key health and social
  indices have brought out inter district
  disparity.

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CONCLUSION

• It is vitally important to assemble and project
  indicators and information for public
  consumption.
• It is important to orient people to view
  information in a way that affects them.
• This can urge people including media and NGOs to
  raise questions about accountability.
• The power of information can become a turning
  point for the electorate to demand change and
  insist on accountability.