Improving Public Expenditure Outcomes

of MDMS and NREGS through Social Accountability Approaches:

Field Experiences from Rajasthan, India

George CheriyanCUTS International

The World Bank, Washington DCJune 4, 2008

About CUTS

• Established in 1983, pursuing social justice and economic

equity within and across borders.

• CUTS has five programme centre and five resource centres:

six in India, two in Africa (Lusaka & Nairobi), one in London

and one in Hanoi. One resource centre in Geneva will be

opening shortly

• Good Governance is one of the key programmatic area.

Working in the area of promoting transparency and

accountability at all levels of governance through increased

people’s participation from its inception

Introduction

• Traditionally focus has been on supply side of institutions

and systems with less attention to demand side

• Today the situation is fast changing

• This includes actions to enable citizens to exert

accountability over public institutions and services

Framework for Accountability Relationships

Users Providers

Policymakers

Making Services Workable for the Poor (WDR 2004)Making Services Workable for the Poor (WDR 2004)

Voice Service Compact

Client Power

Demand Side Approaches

Supply Side Approaches

Enabling Environment

• Democracy works when citizens ask questions, seek

accountability and participate in the process of governance

• Information enters the debate on governance at this point

• Access to Government held information is a pre-condition for

good governance

• Enactment of the RTI Act (2005) in India had triggered the

genuine demand for SAc mechanisms

SAc Pilots in Rajasthan, India (in partnership with the World Bank and as part of SASANet)

1. Child Nutrition – “Improving Outcomes of Nutrition based

Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) in Rajasthan” (Oct. 2005 to

Sept. 2006)

2. Wage Employment – “Assessing the Outputs of the

National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS)

Rajasthan” (June 2007 to August 2008 - ongoing)

Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)

Context• 1995 - National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary

Education, commonly known as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme

(MDMS) started

• Largest school meal programme in the world

(Budget Allocation, 2008-09 is INR 73 billion = ~ $1.8

billion)

• Covers all primary school (Class I to V) students in

Government schools

(10.2 million children in 75,000 primary schools in

Rajasthan)

• 2001 - India’s apex court, the Supreme Court, directed all

State Governments to provide cooked mid day meal

Why a Mid-Day Meal Scheme?

• School meal programs support health, nutrition

and education goals

• A strong incentive to parents to send children to

school, thereby encouraging enrolment,

reducing absenteeism and dropout rates

• A special focus on girl child, mainly to enhance

enrollment of girl child

Nutrition Based Entitlements

• Primary school children provided daily with one

nutritionally adequate cooked meal

– 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein per child

per day

– For a minimum of 200 days per year

– GoI provides 100 grams of food grain (wheat or

rice) per child per school day

– Conversion cost is shared by the GoI & GoR

Pilot Methodology• Combination of two social accountability tools – Public

Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS) and Citizen Report Cards (CRC) used– PETS for gathering information regarding budget allocations, budget

transfers and expenditure – CRC for assessing citizen’s perceptions and satisfaction levels on

MDMS management/delivery

• Survey restricted to one district, Chittorgarh, of Rajasthan (population: 1.8 million)

• Sample size - 211 primary government/aided schools from 14 blocks; a total of 2,110 students, 2,110 parents, 422 teachers and 211 cooks were interviewed;

• Scientific sampling techniques - school selection on the basis of parameters such as size, access by road, remoteness, etc.

Key Survey Findings• High Overall Satisfaction Level: 90% parents and students satisfied

• Acceptable Quality of Food Grains: 97% of the teachers reported receiving

acceptable to good quality of food grains

• Indeterminable Quantity of Food Grains: Only 23% of the schools received food

grains after getting them weighed before delivery

• Lack of Basic Infrastructure: 95% of the schools do not have a kitchen shed,

while only 36% have a separate store room.

• Trade-off between Education Quality and MDMS Management: 68% teachers

spend more than 1 hour (17%) of allotted teaching time, in MDMS activities

• Delayed Receipt of Funds for Conversion: 79% schools receive funds with

delays ranging from 2-6 months (against the mandatory 15 days) affecting meal

quality adversely

Key Survey Findings: Impact of MDMS

Positive Impact of the MDMS: Response of Parents

72% 72%77%

28% 28%23%

1% 0% 0%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Attendance Education Health & Nutrition

Yes

No

Don't Know

Key Findings: Quality of Education

Quality of Education

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Yes No Not Properly

Able to read sentences

Able to w rite sentences

Improving Outcomes through Feedback

Education Service Provider

District Administration/ Government

State Government

Feedback

Accountability

Services

Redesign Programs

Reallocate Resources

Improved Quality of Service Delivery

Feedback

Pilot Impacts: Policy Changes

• Redesign of program: – Advance transfer of funds for cooking meals:

Release of sufficient amount for three months in advance (from –3 months to + 3 months)

• Reallocation of resources: – Improvements in basic infracture: School Grant

Facility extended to construct kitchens, food grain storage rooms

– Revision of Unit Conversion Costs: Conversion cost rates increased from INR 0.5 to INR 1.00

Pilot Impacts: Institutional Changes• Improvement in quality of food grains:

– Food grains supplied after thorough checking and proper weighing;

– Increase in number of inspections; – Faster redressal of complaints

• Increased involvement of parent-teacher associations and PRIs: – PTAs and PRI members have started to take active part in

monitoring MDMS implementation• Increased awareness about entitlements:

– Increased parent oversight over MDM preparation; – Reduced burden on teachers leading to availability of

more time for teaching

Assessing the Outputs of NREGS

Context• India's ruling Government enacted the NREGA on August 25,

2005.

• The scheme started since February 02, 2006 in 200 districts (out of a total of 593 districts in the country) and has been scaled up to all districts of the country from April 2008.

• Budget allocation for 2008-09: INR 160 billion = USD 400 million ; INR 14.4 billion for Rajasthan)

• The commitment to transparency and accountability runs through the Act

• There is a provision of compulsory social audit built-in the scheme, first time in the history of independent India

Employment Based Entitlements

• Legal guarantee for 100 days of employment in every financial

year to adult members of any rural household willing to do

unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage within a

5-km radius.

• Minimum NREGS Wage: Rs 73 (USD 1.70) per day; this has

been increased to Rs. 100/- from April 1, 2008) per day to one

member of every rural unemployed family

• A failure to provide work within 15 days or within 5 km radius

gives the applicant the right to draw an unemployment/

transport allowance

Methodology: Social Accountability Tools Used

• Combination of CRC, PETS & CSC was used to assess the scheme– CRC & CSC for qualitative feedback and to

assess beneficiary perceptions and satisfaction levels

– PETS for the quantitative assessment of fund flow, fund utilization, etc.

Survey Findings: Satisfaction LevelsMajority of the surveyed people endorsed

the NREGS stating that it:

• Provides employment during lean season in own villages itself (97%)

• Has improved facilities in the villages (94%)

• Has ultimately helped in reducing migration (93%).

• Has helped in increasing the monthly income (87%)

• Has helped in creating assets, which will result in sustainable

livelihoods (85%) and

• Has increased bargaining power of laborers

Opinion - Scheme Supportive In

93

85

94

80

85

90

95

ReducingMigration

Livelihood Security Improving villagefacilities

Survey Findings: Gender Empowerment

• 71% of the women surveyed felt that the increase in

incomes had increased their importance in the family

leading to increased say in decision making

• 51% of the women felt that NREGS had improved their

living standards

Survey Findings: Accountability Issues• Lack of awareness about entitlements (63%)• Lack of participation in the decision making process

(42%) as people were not informed about Gram Sabha meetings

• Opaqueness in wage payment – Measurement of work done in a mystified manner and not done to the satisfaction of beneficiaries (50%) – space for misappropriation in wage payment

• No effective grievance redress mechanism available (39%)

• Absence of social audit as per the provisions of NREGA

• Low wages paid to the NREGS Supervisors (INR 1,800 = 45 USD/per month) which force them to look for other means income

Pilot Impacts (Till Now):

Operational Changes: • Facilities at work sites: District level authorities have issued

orders to ensure amenities at work sites are made available• Appointment of women supervisors: Initiatives taken for the

appointment of more female supervisors• Availability of forms for demanding work: Forms are now

available in all important places in the village • Daily measurement of work: Work done is measured on a

daily basis in the presence of the beneficiaries; all beneficiaries have been provided with a measuring tape

• Use of more broad-based communication strategies: Dissemination of information about entitlements and Gram Sabha meetings is more widespread

Pilot Impacts (Till Now):

Changes in Development Outcomes: • Citizen Awareness & Empowerment:

– Increase in awareness about NREGA entitlements; – Beneficiaries are realizing that they have the power and

opportunity to evaluate/assess the actions of the service providers

• Women Empowerment: – Women supervisors are being appointed under NREGS; – Increased participation of women in household decision

making processes as they earn

• Policy Changes: To Be Determined

Remaining Challenges

• Institutionalization

• Building constituencies in the supply side

• Resource re-allocation

• Creating civil society coalitions

In Conclusion…

Improving Outcomes through Feedback

Education Service Provider

District Administration/ Government

State Government

Feedback

Accountability

Services

Redesign Programs

Reallocate Resources

Improved Quality of Service Delivery

Feedback

SAc Approaches Outcomes

Citizen Report CardsCommunity Score Cards

Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys

Right to Information (RTI) Compliance

Development Outcomes• Improved Quality of Service Delivery • Program Redesign and Resource Reallocation to Improve Program Effectiveness and Public Expenditure Efficiency • Improved Governance through Demand Side Approaches in Governance

Institutional Outcomes• Institutionalization of continuous user feedback mechanisms • Formation of community-public-private partnerships for implementation of development programs•Stronger linkages between local governments and civil society

THANKS