Service delivery standards for panchayats key to local governance
Panchayati raj Odisha
By Pradeep Kumar Panda
Bhubaneswar, October 13: The 73rd Amendment of the Constitution of India has institutionalized the Panchayats to function as units of local self–government enabling inclusiveness both in participation and decision making process at all the levels. The act recognizes panchayat as the most accessible and approachable forms of governments for people living in rural India, and the delivery of basic services required by them.
The 73rd amendment to the Constitution, in the Eleventh Schedule, also lists 29 subjects which need involvement of panchayat. More than 27 years have lapsed after the Constitutional amendment, but wide variations exist across states in the level of powers and functions devolved to Panchayats.
The Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) award has created an enormous opportunity for responsive local governance at the cutting edge institutional level of the panchayats by assuring fiscal transfers to panchayat (Rs. 2,36,805 crore) during the period 2021-22 to 2025-26.
The grant is intended to be used to improve delivery of basic civic services including drinking water supply, sanitation including sewerage and solid waste management, storm water drainage, maintenance of community assets, maintenance of roads, footpaths, street-lights, burial and cremation grounds and other basic functions assigned to them under their respective statutes.
The XV FC also strongly recommended that the panchayats need to improve the quality of services they deliver and strengthen accounting, record keeping and accountability mechanisms. However, delivery of public services at all level of panchayats continues to be a focus issue for improving efficiencies and effectiveness as they are unable to deliver quality and timely services. Host of constraints such as: lack of adequate staff and hence inability to provide frontline workers, insufficient funds in terms of allocation, inability to raise adequate own sources of revenue, lack of technical expertise, etc. are haunting a majority of panchayats in the country.
However, seriousness of these constraints varies not only across States, but also panchayats within a State. Hence, there is a dire need to understand at the prevailing situation across select States to address these issues.
It is imperative that panchayats must provide quality services to the citizens at an affordable price, and ensure equal access for all while remaining accountable to the panchayats. The issue of setting service delivery standards becomes paramount.
Service delivery standards can be described as the minimum level of expected services the service provider commits to deliver to the community in terms of quality, process, time and cost. These service delivery standards may vary based on the preparedness of the State and local circumstances.
Setting up of such service benchmarks will help the States and panchayats to set their performance requirements and targets related to service delivery and design institutional strengthening and other capacity building initiatives to attain those benchmarks.
Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat along with a few other States have already enacted Public Services Delivery Acts or Right to Public Services Acts and notified list of public services to ensure delivery of time bound public services to citizens. However, prominence of panchayats and their respective roles in delivery of specific services featured in those Acts may vary across States.
Problems faced by the panchayats in delivery of public services are irregularity and inadequacy of funds flow, lack of autonomy for revenue generation, tax compliance, inadequate staff and vacancies, sanitation, irregular of power Supply and fluctuation, capacity building of staff and elected representatives, no separate funds for maintenance of common assets, inadequate planning at panchayats level, huge gap between powers given and used, and procedural delays for many services like certificates are issued involving more than one department.
Problems faced by the citizens in availing public services are poor awareness about the services to be provided by panchayats, service delivery failures, no penalty being imposed on the officials who failed to provide the services sought by the citizens, lengthy procedures, fewer meetings, e-seva kendra location, lack of separate places for dumping refuse, and no formal grievance redressal mechanism at all panchayat level.
Many states are yet to enact ‘Public Service Delivery Act”. Quality Standards for services delivery as citizens charter is yet to be made in most panchayats. Financial resources should consider ensuring minimum per capita allocation and incentives and disincentives for Panchayat staff have to be included in Acts.
Creation of Grievance Redressal System at all panchayat level, adequate Human Resources, synchronizing services (e.g., latrines construction, water connection and electricity supply), upgradation and adoption of technology, and establishment of e-seva or Common Service Centres closer to panchayats will address the issue.
There are large variations in terms of cost and time for delivery of services across India. These variations may be due to the local conditions for sourcing and providing services like drinking water. There are some services which are free in some States and charged in other States.
Researchers and policy makers have observed that free services are not valued, and hence suggested providing such services recovering at least the operational cost. There are still some services that need to be provided free of cost, and few other services that need to be provided with minimum possible charges being sought by the vulnerable sections of the society.
All the charges need to be revised from time to time using cost of living index. The standards suggested are to be considered as desirable standards, which may be included in the Citizens Charter. There are some states which exceed these standards, and many which are far below from these standards.
All the states may, over a time frame of 3 to 5 years, move towards these standards, and if technology is properly adopted, these standards perhaps can easily be exceeded providing many of these services online on real-time basis.
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