64384 The World Bank FEBRUARY PREMnotes 2011 NUMBER 7 Special Series on Use of Social Accountability Tools and Information Technologies in Monitoring and Evaluation Rajiv Sharma This note attempts to cover the basic concepts relating to the use of social accountability and information technology to monitor and evaluate public services and other governance processes that affect citizens. With the help of simple though practical examples that use these concepts, the note explains how to bring a qualitative change in monitoring and evaluation by making the whole process more citizen centered and outcome oriented. In turn, these practices can help improve the quality of service delivery. The note also covers a few country-speci�c initiatives from India to support the related arguments. In a broad sense, social accountability is a process ety improves the quality of monitoring and used to hold the government (through its the accuracy of evaluation by eliminating a public of�cials) accountable to the people. partial, biased, and one-sided approach to The accountability is extracted by a participa- giving information about various perform- tory approach that engages civil society, citi- ance indicators. zens, and different stakeholders. Social ac- countability includes a “broad range of actions Social Accountability Tools and mechanisms� that can be used to hold Social accountability tools involve a step-by- government of�cials accountable to the citi- step procedure that ensures civic engagement zens (Malena, Forster, and Singh 2004). and promotes citizen participation by reveal- The traditional monitoring and evalua- ing their perspectives and priorities regarding tion (M&E) systems typically involve the de- what they expect from the services rendered velopment of certain key performance indi- by public of�cials or state agencies. The tools cators that can be monitored. The service or are usually simple and replicable. They in- process is then evaluated in terms of its in- clude collation of information and data to ar- tended outcome(s). A well-rounded M&E rive at the �ndings. Therefore, technology system would take into account the concerns becomes very useful in the to-and-fro flow of of all stakeholders—those on the demand information between the service provider and side as well as those on the supply side. The the citizens—the stakeholders at the receiving intense engagement of citizens and civil soci- end. The use of information and communi- FROM THE POVERTY REDUCTION AND ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT NETWORK cation technology (ICT) also improves access However, the important issue here is that the to information and transparency, particularly community and other stakeholders’ aware- when the information is provided in the pub- ness and capacity to participate in this proc- lic domain. Easy access to information for civil ess must be improved to ensure the success society, citizens, and other stakeholders also of social accountability initiatives. helps in evaluating a process or a public serv- This note does not capture all the critical ice on the given indicators in a manner that is factors that determine the success of each of people centric and addresses their concerns the social accountability tools. It focuses in- and priorities. stead on the examples of the use of ICT tools These tools can be employed successfully in combination. Figure 1 presents a schemat- in a given situation to help the society obtain ic description of an integrated strategy to use access to the process of governance in a partici- social accountability and ICT tools to im- patory way. The mechanisms mentioned by the prove M&E, based on citizens’ participation World Bank1 create space for proactive citizen and an appropriate set of SMART3 indicators and civil society engagement with the state; and to measure the outcomes. they include the right-to-information move- This also requires simultaneous efforts ments, citizen advisory boards and vigilance in training and building the capacity of the committees, public interest litigation, public stakeholders and establishing a legal frame- hearings, citizens’ charters, and so forth. The work. Using legislation in combination with purposes behind the use of these tools are to the other components discussed here to en- improve citizen participation in formulating force social accountability is necessary. In public policy and to promote active involve- general, the integrated strategy shown here ment in the monitoring and evaluation of gov- is not only useful in ensuring the effective- ernment processes, including those that have ness of M&E; it also provides a favorable en- a bearing on service delivery, management of vironment for good governance. public assets, and �nancial and physical re- sources. Some commonly used social account- Information Technology Platform ability tools include social audits, participatory for Social Accountability Tools budgeting and expenditure tracking, commu- Social accountability tools can be created or nity or citizen score cards, independent budget improved using an information technology analysis, participatory performance monitor- platform. There are some speci�c technology ing, and the like.2 The tools are usually speci�c options available to enable citizens and civil in terms of the methodology employed, the society to interact with government agencies essence of which is to improve transparency in and other state-sponsored institutions. These “government to citizen� engagement. Informa- options range from Web-enabled applica- tion technologies help improve citizens’ partic- tions to mobile technologies. Web sites and ipation as stakeholders in the accountability portals, video conferencing, telecenters, citi- mechanism and develop their con�dence in zen service centers, electronic kiosks, touch- the service delivery apparatus. screens, mobile phone–based services using The conjunctive use of technology and short messages, interactive voice recording, social accountability tools constitutes a for- and such hand-held devices as personal digi- mal framework that provides better access to tal assistants are some of the available tech- poor and vulnerable people because it sub- nologies. Use of smart cards and mobile auto- stantially reduces discretion and subjectivity mated teller machines has also been very on the part of state actors and bureaucracy. effective in improving service delivery and ac- 2 PREMNOTE FEBRUARY 2011 Figure 1. Integrated Strategy to Use Social Accountability and ICT Tools for M&E Legislative or statutory framework Information and communication Smart indicators tools Monitoring and evaluation Social accountability tools Training and capacity building Citizen/shareholder participation Source: Authorʼs illustration. countability in remote areas. They are useful Social Accountability and ICT in in citizen transactions involving social welfare M&E: Some Examples bene�ts or payments of wages in the case of Social accountability tools can be used very ef- government employment programs.4 fectively on information, technology platforms. Arroyo and Sirker (2005) mention Web These tools can range from simple Web sites sites as common ICT tools that can be pre- to Web-based surveys. ventive (for example, ones that help curb An interactive forum provided by a Web corruption and remove the element of dis- site is being used successfully in Germany for cretion), informative (such as those that give evolving a participatory approach in prepar- useful details of various projects to enhance ing and evaluating citizens’ budgets6 in many transparency), or punitive (for instance, sites cities—for example, Bergheim, Cologne, and that publicize the names of corrupt public of- the Lichtenberg district of Berlin. The four- �cials who are punished). The Cristal Web stage process involves disseminating informa- site launched in Argentina is a good example tion, initiating dialogue, decision making in of a site that widely informs citizens about the council, and communicating decisions to the activities of government agencies. The the citizens. These Web sites also allow a Center for Good Governance in India has “town dialogue� by which the public may developed a Web site for SASANET,5 which freely exchange views on policy issues. There provides self-study material on social account- has been a very purposeful online dialogue ability tools (�gure 2). concerning the new use of Berlin’s Tempel- FEBRUARY 2011 PREMNOTE 3 Figure 2. Web Site for Capacity Building Source: http://www.sasanet.org. hof Airport. These initiatives seem to have how transparency mechanisms can be im- worked positively because the local council in proved by disseminating government infor- Lichtenberg borough passed 37 of the 42 mation on an ICT platform and using e-gov- proposed amendments to the budget or to ernance as the basic plank for enforcing policy issues, and there appeared to be an en- social accountability through improved citi- hanced accountability on the part of the local zen-and-government dialogue. administration to the people of the city (Cad- There are many other examples of the dy, Peixoto, and McNeil 2007, pp. 72–75). use of ICT to foster public accountability in The Republic of Korea has an online sys- the developed world and in Organisation for tem to open up administrative procedures to Economic Co-operation and Development public scrutiny and to ensure transparency. It countries. It is reported that the proportion also uses an anticorruption index construct- of citizens paying bribes to get copies of land ed through public opinion gathered from records declined from 33.8 percent to 0.7 people who have actually submitted civic ap- percent after these services were computer- plications (Caddy, Peixoto, and McNeil 2007, ized in Karnataka, India (Bhatnagar 2009). pp. 98–101). Positive opinion about the be- India, a fast-growing economy, has a very am- havior of civil servants increased from 54 per- bitious program to provide supplementary cent in 1998 to 71 percent in 1999. In the �ve wage employment to rural poor people who years following the �rst survey in 1999, the are unskilled and do not �nd employment anticorruption index has been consistently outside the agricultural season. The program, improving. This is a good example to show mandated under the Mahatma Gandhi Na- 4 PREMNOTE FEBRUARY 2011 Figure 3. Social Accountability and ICT in the MGNREGA Paper, postal service, fax Interactive voice recording Internet, e-mail Helpline: 1-800-11-0707 Internet online forms for Telephone voice complaints short message service Mobile voice short message service Source: www.nrega.net/ict/new_initiatives. tional Rural Employment Guarantee Act of formation and to put in place a robust griev- India, 2005 (MGNREGA), has an open-access ance redress system with a central helpline. Web site that raises the level of transparency An evaluation7 of the program was done to new heights by giving complete informa- in the large state of Andhra Pradesh, and the tion (including the wage entitlement) to more responses of the wage earners enrolled in the than 52 million poor rural households that program are shown in �gure 4. were provided employment by the govern- A multipronged approach including sus- ment. This drastically reduces the chances of tained awareness campaigns; capacity build- corruption because all the information is in ing for the target groups; introduction of ac- the public domain and may be easily ac- countability mechanisms; a social audit and cessed by civil society or any watchdog mech- public hearing; and the constant involvement anism. of civil society, higher-level bureaucracy, and The success of the MGNREGA lies in us- the political executive brought very positive ing a multipronged approach like the one results. More than $2 million was recovered shown in �gure 3. Increasing the awareness from the misappropriated amount, and about and building the capacity of stakeholders to 500 charges were �led under criminal law and use tools like the social audit and the intensive administrative procedures in the state.8 use of ICT have improved the functioning and An important lesson to be taken from In- proper targeting of this pro-poor program in dia’s employment guarantee scheme is that India. As shown in �gure 3, the program uses a in addition to using ICT, it helps to achieve variety of ICT tools to improve the access to in- sustainable improvement in program M&E if FEBRUARY 2011 PREMNOTE 5 the social accountability tools have a legal • United States—Freedom of Information Figure 4. Responses of Wage Earners under or MGNREGA, Ahdhra Pradesh sanctity thea formal position in of�cial evalu- Act (1966) and the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in Our National Govern- Received wages correctly ment Act (OPEN Government Act, 2007). India’s Community Participation Laws Received and the Right to Information Act (2005) may payment slip be mentioned in this regard as examples of Response No fraud legislative support to empower the civil socie- in work ty and provide it a formal space. A reform measurement process in urban governance has started in No mismatch India with the introduction of the Jawaharlal between muster roll and Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission,9 payment slip which makes it mandatory for the states to enact community participation laws for use 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 in the municipalities. Percent before social audit after social audit Appropriate E-Governance Strategy Source: Adapted from http://www.rd.ap.gov.in/SAudi t/Standing_Under_the_Arch-_V3.pdf. It is important to have a long-term strategy to provide a holistic environment for electronic enablement of vital government-to-citizen serv- ice as well as adequate infrastructure and con- ation. The contribution of civil society and nectivity to offer easy access to citizens, civil so- nongovernmental organizations in an M&E ciety, and other stakeholders. This requires the exercise may greatly help bring improve- preparation of national and subnational plans ments in the services if the agencies provid- for uploading all the public services onto an e- ing these services recognize the importance governance platform. The success of these ser- of the input as useful feedback on which to vices will depend on how easy it is for the com- base corrective action. Otherwise, there is a mon citizen to access them. danger that civil society groups will be mar- An appropriate strategy should address is- ginalized and their assessment ignored by sues of technology, infrastructure, reengineer- the state bureaucracy—not a desirable result ing of government processes, capacity build- of a well-rounded evaluation. ing, and change management. The United Transparency in government has been Nations has developed an e-governance readi- legislated in the following countries: ness index for comparing different countries. • Australia—Federal Freedom of Informa- The latest concept also considers how strong tion Act (1982), the inclusiveness of e-governance is in a given • Canada—Access to Information Act (1983), country. It asks whether the national govern- • France—Law on Access to Administra- ment publishes information on items under tive Documents (1978), consideration; whether there are ways for the • Germany—Freedom of Information Act public to engage in consultations with policy (1999), makers, government of�cials, and one anoth- • Japan—Law Concerning Access to Infor- er; and whether citizens can influence deci- mation Held by Administrative Organs sions directly (for example, by voting online or (1999), and by mobile telephone). 6 PREMNOTE FEBRUARY 2011 Benchmarking Service lic agencies gave a number of insights into Standards the related processes. Though the informa- An essential ingredient for the success of so- tion provided by the report cards was signi�- cial accountability initiatives is a benchmark cant, how that information was eventually for service standards and a measurable and used to improve the systems and services de- veri�able set of indicators to monitor and eval- pended on many diverse factors, such as re- uate the services provided. Setting the bench- sponsive leadership, available resources, and marking standards should involve all the stake- the institutional environment of the agency holders. Information technology helps here concerned (Ravindra 2004). However, the re- by enabling a smooth flow of information for port cards helped in benchmarking and com- the use of all stakeholders—citizens, civil soci- paring the feedback from users to articulate ety, government of�cials, and the politicians. those issues in the public domain that One way to implement this concept is to triggered the change (Balakrishnan 2006). provide these standards in the Citizens’ Char- There is evidence of increasing use of ters—of�cial documents published by the gov- citizen report cards, despite the initial reluc- ernment departments and service providers tance of the state agencies. This tool is now a stating their commitment to the citizens in re- permanent feature in Bogotá, Colombia, as gard to standards of service. Thee charters part of the Cómo Vamos project. Report cards guarantee a minimum level of service available were also used in Peru to evaluate nutrition, to the citizen. In case of a breach of this prom- education, health, and employment pro- ise, there is a mechanism by which a citizen grams (Fiszbein 2005). The Ukraine People’s may raise a grievance and get it redressed Voice project also used citizen report cards10 through a prescribed process. aimed at benchmarking the service stan- The Charter Mark national standard of dards and gathering people’s opinions of the United Kingdom provides benchmark- these services, with a goal of improving the ing for the services furnished by the public service delivery in Ukrainian cities. This ap- sector. The Malcolm Baldrige National Qual- proach also involved building the capacity of ity Improvement Act, signed in the United citizens’ groups and of�cials to have mean- States in 1987, is another example of estab- ingful interaction with each other. Citizens lishing service standards. and of�cials were also trained in technical is- The use of citizen report cards in assess- sues, like the design and execution of sur- ing public services in Bangalore, India, is a veys. These surveys to monitor the service de- well-documented initiative. The Public Affairs livery were conducted after a proper needs Center, a nongovernmental organization, rat- assessment. ed citizen satisfaction with various public serv- It should be possible in the future to con- ices on a scale, based on two surveys taken in struct report cards with Web-based surveys to 1994 and 1999. The services covered were gather the opinions of those service users housing, municipal services, water and sewer- who use the Internet frequently. age, electricity, driving licenses, telephones, banking, and health care. The 1999 survey Capacity Building and found that, after �ve years, overall satisfaction Sustainability Issues with the services improved from 9 percent to Capacity building and change management 34 percent (with �gures varying for each are important issues in the use of social ac- agency). These �ndings were widely pub- countability and ICT tools for M&E. The ab- lished and an assessment of the impact of cit- sence of these elements would affect the sus- izen report cards on the performance of pub- tainability of new practices. Building aware FEBRUARY 2011 PREMNOTE 7 ness in the community and equipping people Figure 5. User Feedback on the Right-to- with skills necessary to monitor and assess the Information Online Certificate Course quality of services will be crucial here. a. How would you rate the ICT application design? There is very limited evidence of a sys- Excellent tematic and sustained training and capacity- Response building program to prepare stakeholders to Good use social accountability tools. The examples Average available are mostly in speci�c and limited Poor/no domain projects where stakeholder feedback response may be built into the project design and 0 20 40 60 80 100 where stakeholders develop basic skills to use Percent the accountability tools. b. Was the course useful? Use of Web sites to post learning materi- Very al is very common. The examples of SASANET useful Response and similar initiatives through the Af�liated Useful Network for Social Accountability (ANSA)11 Somewhat are noteworthy here in the context of social useful accountability. Not useful Web-based training in the use of the 0 20 40 60 80 100 Right to Information Act has recently been Percent initiated in India through an e-learning pro- Source: Authorʼs illustration. gram.12 It is interesting to note that this ini- Note: Number of respondents = 1,329. tiative in capacity building has targeted both civil society on the demand side and govern- ment of�cials on the supply side. Through need to understand the basics of using In- different modules, this e-learning course of- dia’s Right to Information Act. This e-learn- fers the following basic features: ing program is an important step in improv- • It is Web enabled. ing social accountability. It uses easily • It provides an online learning platform accessible means to disseminates knowledge with a virtual classroom and both start on the technical details of using a legal and end dates. process. It is running well, and the user feed- • Modules are designed with graded dif�cul- back on the technology and the course con- ty levels, beginning with simple content. tent is very positive (as shown in �gure 5). • Learners may ask questions that are an- swered by the mentors through the virtu- ICT and Social Accountability in al classroom and discussion forum. Subsidized Housing for Poor • At the end of the course, the system ad- People in India ministers a test comprising a set of ques- India has a very large housing program in- tions randomly selected from a question volving subsidies for construction of houses bank. Learners who pass the test are for the poor. An Internet portal supporting awarded a certi�cate by the government. this program in the state of Andhra Pradesh This certi�cate recognizes the effort put has a database of more than 6.5 million hous- in by the participant. es. This Web site brings transparency, making This useful learning tool has the poten- the diversion or embezzlement of funds dif�- tial to solve the problem of training and ca- cult. The Web site (http://housing.cgg.gov.in pacity building for millions of people who /phase3/BenShow.do?ben_id=091292421P39 8 PREMNOTE FEBRUARY 2011 79523) has a facility to upload photographs Figure 6. Number of Callers Requesting of a building site before house construction Applications, 2007–09 begins and at various stages of completion. 30,000 All managerial processes, including a man- Number of callers 25,000 agement information system, are maintained 20,000 online. It is also very useful for conducting a social audit and preparing report cards or 15,000 community scorecards because all informa- 10,000 tion is available on the Internet. This infor- 5,000 mation can be veri�ed easily by members of 0 2007 2008 2009 civil society or any independent agency wish- Year ing to compare the situation on the ground Source: Authorʼs illustration. with what is reported on the Web site. Call Center for Seeking Information from Public Of�ces tional Capital Territory of Delhi has been im- An ICT-enabled call center known as Jankari, plemented. The exercise included training run by a nongovernmental organization in the school of�cials in the use information the Indian state of Bihar, has contributed to technology and providing a public interface improved social accountability, as evidenced to enhance accountability. The hallmark of by the number of requests �led under the this program was to provide e-governance in Right to Information Act. This center is a sim- the management of schools; and to give citi- ple facility through which even illiterate citi- zens direct online access to all the relevant of- zens can make a phone call and explain the �cers, including the minister of education. information they require. Their needs are de- A feedback system was in place for the ciphered by the facilitator in the call center citizens and parents to communicate with and are converted into a formal application the department to ask questions or give sug- for getting relevant information from govern- gestions. The attendance report of both ment records. teaching and nonteaching staff was kept in This information usually is helpful in en- the public domain, with online recording of forcing accountability. It also helps in the re- inspection reports by superior of�cers. As de- dress of grievances for people adversely af- tailed for the 10th grade in table 1, these inter- fected by such issues of service delivery as ventions showed a substantial reduction in the access to government welfare programs, sub- performance gap that had existed between sidized housing programs for the poor, pub- lic distribution systems, and the like. Figure 6 shows how the number of requests for infor- Table 1. Reduction in the Performance Gap mation under the Right to Information Act between Government and Private Schools, has risen steadily over the last three years 10th Grade through the Jankari call center. Year Gap (%) 1997–98 55.00 Quality Improvement in 2004–05 38.33 Government Schools 2005–06 28.59 in Delhi, India 2006–07 13.93 An interesting initiative to improve accounta- Source: Adapted from Kundra and Kumar (2008). bility in the government schools in the Na- FEBRUARY 2011 PREMNOTE 9 government schools and private schools, and 4. See i4d (Information for Development), 2006, the pass percentage increased from 40 per- http://www.i4donline.net. cent in 2001 to 77 percent in 2007 (Kundra 5. SASANET stands for South Asia Social Ac- and Kumar 2008). countability Network. Its Web site (http://www.sas anet.org) was developed by the Centre for Good It is dif�cult to attribute the positive Governance, Hyderabad, India, with support from changes in the government school system in the World Bank Institute. It provides information Delhi to a possibly enhanced level of social ac- on tools such as procurement monitoring, Citizen countability alone because there must have Report Card, e-procurement and participatory been all-round attempts at comprehensive sys- budgeting. temic improvement simultaneously. But the 6. A citizen’s budget is the outcome of a statu- importance of nurturing a culture of social tory process of participation in which a citizen accountability by skillful use of e-governance may submit his or her proposals for expenditure cannot be ignored in any such attempt at to the city government. The proposal can be de- managing change in service delivery systems. bated and ranked using the Internet. 7. The evaluation is available at the following Conclusion site: http://www.rd.ap.gov.in/SAudit/Standing_Un There is a de�nite role for ICT in the design der_the_Arch-_V3.pdf. 8. The information is based on the author’s and implementation of M&E systems, with the personal discussions with the of�cials of the Rural help of social accountability tools. Evidence is Development Department. growing that, even in case of pro-poor service 9. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Re- delivery from public agencies, the level of newal Mission is a flagship program of the Indian transparency in state-run programs increases government. Its intent is to aim a strategic inter- substantially with the use of these tools. Infor- vention at accelerated urban development. mation technology facili-tates the free flow of 10. The project’s report card program is fund- information, and its positive role in establish- ed by the World Bank, the Canadian International ing a robust dialogue between the citizens and Development Agency, the Open Society Institute, the agencies of the state cannot be disputed. and the Canadian Bureau of International Educa- This then improves the effectiveness of social tion. It was initiated in March 1997. Details may be accountability tools in improving the relia- found at http://www.undp.org/oslocentre/do bility and effectiveness of a typical M&E sys- cs08/so�a/Case%20Study%201-%20Citizens%20 Report%20Cards%20Ukraine%20FINAL.pdf. tem. There is a need to discover how the ca- 11. See http://www.ansa-africa.net. pacity of civil society and of public of�cials can 12. The Indian government’s Department of be built to best leverage the use of informa- Personnel and Training has initiated an exercise tion technology to raise the standards of social in capacity building for government workers and accountability and improve the quality of eval- members of civil society that focuses on use of the uation for better service delivery. Right to Information Act through this e-learning course. This was designed by the Center for Good Notes Governance, Hyderabad, India. Each session runs 1. The World Bank Web site gives detailed in- for two weeks, and 7,000 participants have used formation. See http://go.worldbank.org/GIILY the program since 2009. ME1Y0. 2. See http://go.worldbank.org/GIILYME1Y0. About the Author 3. The acronym SMART (commonly used in Rajiv Sharma has worked in leadership positions in the the M&E literature) refers to the qualities of indi- Indian public sector and has dealt extensively with de- cators: speci�c, measurable, achievable, relevant, velopmental issues involving poverty alleviation, edu- and time-bound. 10 PREMNOTE FEBRUARY 2011 cation, urban development, agriculture, environmental Caddy, Joanne, Tiago Peixoto, and Mary McNeil. management, and e-governance. Until recently, he worked 2007. “Beyond Public Scrutiny: Stocktaking of as director general of the Center for Good Governance, Hy- Social Accountability in OECD Countries.� derabad, India. World Bank Institute Working Paper. World Bank, Washington, DC. Acknowledgments Fiszbein, Ariel, ed. 2005. “Citizens, Politicians, For their comments, the author thanks Jody Zall and Providers: The Latin American Experi- (adviser, HDNGA), and the following members of ence with Service Delivery Reform.� Washing- the Poverty Reduction and Equity Group: Helena ton, DC: World Bank. Hwang (consultant), Philipp Krause (consultant), Kundra, Gitanjali K., and Ashok Kumar. 2008. Gladys Lopez-Acevedo (senior economist), Keith “Radical Improvement in Delhi Government Mackay (consultant), and Jaime Saavedra (acting School System.� In Roofless Towers: A Compila- sector director). The views expressed in this note tion of Award-Winning Initiatives, ed. Depart- are those of the author. To access other notes in ment of Administrative Reforms and Public this series, visit www.worldbank.org/poverty/nut Grievances. New Delhi, India: Unicorn Books. sandbolts. Malena, Carmen, Reiner Forster, and Janmejay Singh. 2004. “Social Accountability: An Intro- References duction to the Concept and Emerging Prac- Arroyo, Dennis, and Karen Sirker. 2005. “Stocktak- tice.� Social Development Paper 76. World ing of Social Accountability Initiatives in the Bank, Washington, DC. Asia and Paci�c Region.� Community Empow- Ravindra, Adikeshavalu. 2004. “An Assessment of erment and Social Inclusion Learning Pro- the Impact of Bangalore Citizen Report Cards gram, World Bank Institute, Washington, DC. on the Performance of Public Agencies.� Eval- Balakrishnan, Suresh. 2006. “Making Service Deliv- uation Capacity Development Working Paper ery Reforms Work: The Bangalore Experience.� 12. Operations Evaluation Department, World In Reinventing Public Service Delivery in India: Se- Bank, Washington, DC. lected Case Studies, ed. Vikram K. Chand, pp. 157–85. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Bhatnagar, Subhash. 2009. Unlocking E-Government Potential: Concepts, Cases and Practical Insights. New Delhi, India: Sage Publications India. This note series is intended to summarize good practices and key policy �ndings on PREM- related topics. The views expressed in the notes are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the World Bank. PREMnotes are widely distributed to Bank staff and are available on the PREM Web site (http://www.worldbank.org/prem). If you are interested in writing a PREMnote, email your idea to Madjiguene Seck at mseck@worldbank.org. For additional copies of this PREMnote, please contact the PREM Advisory Service at x87736. PREMnotes are laid out by UpperCase Publication Services, Ltd. Prepared for World Bank staff