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Decentralization and Public Sector Delivery of Health and Education Services: The Indian Experience

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  • Mahal, Ajay
  • Srivastava, Vivek
  • Sanan, Deepak

Abstract

The paper has two main objectives. The first is to trace the progress in the process of decentralisation in the provision of public services in India. The second is to test the hypothesis that decentralisation in the system of public service delivery in primary health care and education led to improved outcomes for the rural Indian population. Before 1992, with few exceptions, there was little movement towards decentralisation. Rural local bodies functioned primarily as program executing agents for government line departments, with little control over finances, administration, or the pattern of expenditure. The only decentralisation that existed was in the importance of state governments vis-à-vis the centre. After the 1992 Constitutional Amendments, significant progress has taken place in the form of the passing of conformity legislation by state governments, the setting up of State Finance Commissions to examine the distribution of resources from states to local bodies, and accelerated moves towards transfer of planning and expenditure responsibilities to village bodies. The paper used data from the 1994 NCAER survey to test the hypothesis that increased decentralisation/democratisation positively influences enrolment rates and child mortality once the influence of socioeconomic circumstances, civil society organisations, the problem of capture of local bodies by elite groups, and so on are controlled for. Our main empirical findings are that indicators of democratisation and public participation, such as frequency of elections, presence of non-governmental organisations, parent-teacher associations and indicator variables for decentralised states generally have the expected positive effects, although these are not always statistically indistinguishable from zero.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahal, Ajay & Srivastava, Vivek & Sanan, Deepak, 2000. "Decentralization and Public Sector Delivery of Health and Education Services: The Indian Experience," Discussion Papers 280264, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:ubzefd:280264
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.280264
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bardhan, Pranab & Mookherjee, Dilip, 1998. "Expenditure Decentralization and the Delivery of Public Services in Developing Countries," Center for International and Development Economics Research (CIDER) Working Papers 233623, University of California-Berkeley, Department of Economics.
    2. Mavalankar, Dileep, 1998. "Need and Challenges of Management Education in Primary Health Care System in India," IIMA Working Papers WP1998-11-05, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    3. Marijn Verhoeven & Mr. Sanjeev Gupta & Mr. Erwin H Tiongson, 1999. "Does Higher Government Spending Buy Better Results in Education and Health Care?," IMF Working Papers 1999/021, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Msuya, John, 1999. "Nutrition Improvement Projects in Tanzania: Appropriate Choice of Institutions Matters," Discussion Papers 280058, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
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    Cited by:

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    2. Robin Boadway & Anwar Shah, 2007. "Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers : Principles and Practice," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7171.
    3. Singh, Richa & Bhattacharjee, Sankalpa & Nandy, Amarendu, 2024. "Fiscal decentralization for the delivery of health and education in Indian states: An ongoing process is more desirable than a policy shift," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 254-271.
    4. Paula Salinas & Albert Solé-Ollé, 2009. "Evaluating the effects of decentralization on educational outcomes in Spain," Working Papers 2009/10, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    5. Indira Rajaraman, 2003. "Tackling Agriculture in a Developing Country: A Proposal for India," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0322, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    6. Pal, Rupayan & Das, Aparajita, 2008. "Decentralisation and Political Business Cycle: Fund Utilization of the MP-LADS in India," MPRA Paper 10535, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Dhiman Das, 2017. "Public expenditure and healthcare utilization: the case of reproductive health care in India," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 473-494, December.

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