Reducing Corruption in Service Delivery to Citizens Subhash Bhatnagar Advisor eGovernment, ISGIA, World Bank, Washington DC (Adjunct Professor Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad)

Presentation Structure Service Delivery and Administrative corruption Bhoomi: Issue of Record of Rights,Tenancy and Crops (RTC) in Karnataka India –Is there an impact on corruption? –Processes reengineered to tackle corruption ICT use in Property Registration-Why did it not impact corruption? How did ICT use help in Bhoomi? Why did Bhoomi succeed as an ICT project Do poor people benefit from Bhoomi?

Types of Corruption in Government to Citizen Contact Administrative corruption –Service is denied unless bribe is paid –Service is delayed unless bribe is paid Collusion (both parties gain at the expense of Government) –Favored allocation when mismatch between supply and demand –Lower valuation by Tax collection agencies –Waiving of penalties and fines –Tempering government records to provide unfair advantage Extortion –Law enforcers, tax collectors make patently unreasonable demands to extort a bribe

Land Related Corruption Copy of RTC required for farm loans of Rs 40 billion yearly by 2500 bank branches –Service is denied /delayed unless bribe is paid Mutation of Land –Service is denied /delayed unless bribe is paid –Tempering government records to provide unfair advantage Crop insurance:In only 0.38 million farmers insured their crop, paid Rs. 112 million as premium and collected Rs 40 million in damages. In one million farmers insured their crops, paid Rs 420 million as premium and collected Rs2960 million in damages. Falsified Claims Collusion (both parties gain at the expense of Government) More than 70% disputes in courts are land based-need to retrieve old documents from revenue department : Service is denied /delayed unless bribe is paid. Encroachment on public land: Collusion (both parties gain at the expense of Government) in falsifying records Registration of property deeds: Extortion by making patently unreasonable stamp duty demands to extort a bribe

Land Record Computerization Bhoomi, Karnataka, India 20 million records of 6.7 million farmers spread over 9000 villages Village Accountant responsible for issue of certificates and mutation Certificate issue can take 3-30 days and a bribe of Rs Mutation can take up to 2 years (30 days) Encroachment of public land

Bhoomi: on-line Delivery of Certificates 180 centers where operators issue certificates on- line in 15 minutes for a fee of Rs 15 (30cents) Mutation request filed on line Touch screen on pilot basis for easy access by citizens Future plans to Web enable to provide access thru kiosks Security thru bio-log in procedure Incisive MIS reports for follow up on mutation

Report Card on Bhoomi is GOOD Survey: 180 users from 12 kiosks and 60 non users 4 taluks Ease of Use: 78% of users who had used both systems found Bhoomi simpler; 66% used Bhoomi without help vs. 28% in manual Complexity of Procedures: 80% did not have to meet any one other than at kiosk: In manual 19% met one officer and 61% met 2-4 officials Errors in documents: Bhoomi 8% vs manual 64% Rectification of errors: sought correction 93 % vs 49%, timely response 50% vs 4% Cost of service: 84% one visit to Bhoomi center at Taluk HQ Staff behavior: Bhoomi Good (84%) vs manual Average (63%)

Other Indicators of Success 18 million titles issued earning a fee of 270 million (51% loans; 14% verify mutation;16%courts) Corruption: 66% paid bribes very often vs 3% in Bhoomi Small sample study quoted reduction in corruption of Rs 700 million in bribes and Rs 66 million saving to farmers in wages. 85% jump in the number of mutation requests- from an average of 0.55 million mutations per year to one million mutations in the previous two years of Bhoomi

Features of Bhoomi to Curb Corruption Delay or deny service –Removal of gate keeping role –First in first out handling enforced –Transaction in a more public place –Awareness that no bribes need to be paid –System of reporting down time of equipment –Physical supervision –Complaint handling system?? Improved accountability deters potential offenders –Tracking of all data base changes –Documentation of all objections –Ability of citizens to easily access data and verify records –Ability to back complaints with documentary evidence

How Does ICT Use Help? Introduces transparency in data, decisions/actions, rules, procedures and performance of Govt. agencies Automates processes-less discretion, less delay Entry point for simplification of rules and reengineering Makes decisions traceable- tracks actions Builds accountability- greater access to information through web publishing-role of civil society Provides documentation to citizens for follow up Introduces competition amongst delivery channels Standardized documentation of comments/ objections leads to effective supervision- through comparative indicators Centralizes and integrates data for better audit and analysis. Enables unbiased sampling for audit purposes

Report Card on CARD Intermediaries continue to thrive and bribes are demanded and paid Valuation model not transparent Discretion on valuation not taken away Citizen’s do not understand the level of discretion, registrar’s enjoy Registrars continue to play a gate keeping role. Weak complaint handling mechanism

ICT Projects: Critical Success Factors Strong Political and Administrative Leadership –Willing to take on 9000 VAs, workshops, permitted user fees Project scope that was not ambitious but delivered significant value to customers Clearly identified goals and benefits –RTC in 15 minutes and Mutation in 30 days Significant Process Reengineering Required –FIFO, multiple channels for a task, bio log in, data transparency In-source Analysis ; Outsource design, software development, data preparation, training, etc. Detailed Project Management Training Expenses should not be minimized

Dealing With Resistance from VAs Not every one is completely dishonest. Were amenable to exploitation by powerful brokers- were forced into wrong doing such as altering records Got an unambiguous signal from the political leadership that there is no way out Were not strongly unionized and organized Were by passed-were not critical to the success of the Bhoomi operation Reforms were phased-RTC and then Mutation