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Making voice work : the report card on Banglalore's public service

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  • Paul, Samuel

Abstract

The author reports how a"report card"on public services in the Indian city of Bangalore was used by citizen groups to creategreater public awareness about the poor performance of public service providers and to challenge them to be more efficient and responsive to their customers. The report card was the result of a survey of a sample of users (both rich and poor) of the city's services and rated public agencies in terms of public satisfaction with different dimensions of their services. Public feedback was used to quantify the extent of corruption and other indirect costs of the services. The result was a citizen's assessment of public services. The survey was completed in 1993, but the follow-up activities continued for three years, with the active involvement of several concerned citizen groups and nongovernment bodies. The author discusses how the media disseminated the report card findings, how public agencies responded to it, and how agencies joined citizen groups in joint initiatives to improve services. Similar report cards have since been prepared on several other large cities in India. It is not easy to measure the impact of the report card on the quality and responsiveness of Bangalore's service providers. The author examines the problems involved and gives some intermediate indicators. There is some evidence that public awareness of the problems has increased as a result of the experiment. Civil society institutions seem to be more active and their interactions with public agencies have become better organized, more purposeful, and continuous. As a result, some public agencies in Bangalore have begun to take steps to improve their services.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul, Samuel, 1998. "Making voice work : the report card on Banglalore's public service," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1921, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:1921
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul, Samuel, 1992. "Accountability in public services: Exit, voice and control," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(7), pages 1047-1060, July.
    2. Mr. Vito Tanzi, 1994. "Corruption, Governmental Activities, and Markets," IMF Working Papers 1994/099, International Monetary Fund.
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    Cited by:

    1. Joseph J. Capuno & Stella A. Quimbo & Aleli D. Kraft & Carlos Antonio R. Tan, Jr. & Vigile Marie B. Fabella, 2012. "Perks and public provisions : Effects of yardstick competition on local government fiscal behavior in the Philippines," UP School of Economics Discussion Papers 201208, University of the Philippines School of Economics.
    2. Roxas & Val Lindsay & Nicholas Ashill & Antong Victorio, 2009. "Economic Accountability in the Context of Local Governance in the Philippines: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach," Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 17-37, June.
    3. Joseph Capuno & Ma. Garcia, 2010. "Can Information about Local Government Performance Induce Civic Participation? Evidence from the Philippines," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(4), pages 624-643.
    4. Joseph J. Capuno & Stella A. Quimbo & Aleli D. Kraft & Carlos Antonio R. Tan, Jr., 2012. "The effects of term limits and yardstick competition on local government provision of health insurance and other public services : The Philippine case," UP School of Economics Discussion Papers 201201, University of the Philippines School of Economics.
    5. Ensor, Tim & Weinzierl, Sabine, 2007. "Regulating health care in low- and middle-income countries: Broadening the policy response in resource constrained environments," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 355-366, July.

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