Publication: Case Study 1 - Bangalore, India : Participatory Approaches in Budgeting and Public Expenditure Management
Date
2003-03
ISSN
Published
2003-03
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Inspired by a private sector practice of
conducting client satisfaction surveys, a small group of
people in Bangalore2, concerned about the city'
deteriorating standards of public services3, initiated an
exercise in 1993 to collect feedback from users. User
perceptions on the quality, efficiency, and adequacy of the
various services were aggregated to create a 'report
card' that rated the performance of all major service
providers in the city. The findings presented a quantitative
measure of satisfaction and perceived levels of corruption,
which, following coverage in the media, not only mobilized
citizen and government support for reform, but also prompted
the rated agencies themselves to respond positively to civic
calls for improvement in services. This exercise was
repeated in 1999, and has been replicated in at least five
other Indian cities, as well as the State of Karnataka in
the interim. By systematically gathering and disseminating
public feedback, report cards may serve as a "surrogate
for competition" for monopolies - usually government
owned - that lack the incentive to be as responsive as the
private enterprises to their client's needs. They are a
useful medium through which citizens can credibly and
collectively 'signal' to agencies about their
performance and pressure for change.
Citation
“World Bank. 2003. Case Study 1 - Bangalore, India : Participatory Approaches in
Budgeting and Public Expenditure Management. Social Development Notes; No. 70. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/7161a9cf-7f58-5489-a928-767035865ded License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”