1. Governance Reform in Karnataka
Vikram K. Chand
World Bank
April 26, 2004

2. The Context Reformist Government elected in late 1999.
Pressures from below for change in system.
Legacy of highly skilled civil service.

3. Key Challenges Improving the quality of services.
Reducing political interference.
Combating corruption.

4. Bangalore’s Service Delivery Miracle
Dramatic improvements in service delivery.
Report cards issued by the Public Affairs Center (PAC).
Survey commissioned by the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF).

5. Improvements in Satisfaction: Public Services in Bangalore
Source : PAC

6. Large Decline in Corruption
Corruption across Three Report Cards
100 80 60 25
% who paid 40 32 20 19 14 22 9
1994
1999
2003
Year
General Households
Slum
Source: PAC

7. Trends: Services in Bangalore
Source: BATF

8. Computerization of Land Records
20 million land records computerized.
Results:
Steep reduction in bribes
Faster delivery times
Fewer errors
Travel to Taluq offices still necessary.

9. Enhancing Transparency in Government
Transparency in Tenders and Procurement.
Model law on Right to Information (RTI).
RTI adopted despite stiff resistance.
NGO’s push for RTI implementation.

10. Frequent Civil Servant Transfers
Market in buying and selling of posts.
Politicians use transfers for patronage.
Frequent transfers hurt service delivery.

11. Overall Transfers/Karnataka
Moily
Krishna (current)
Bangarappa
Devegowda
Patel

12. Controlling Transfers
Cadre management committees.
Quantitative caps on transfers.
Computerized transfer process.
Mass transfers reduced – sustainable?

13. Anti-corruption Enforcement
Strongest Lok Ayukta (Ombudsman) in India.
Investigates corruption/maladministration.
Budget US$1.6 million; five hundred officers.
Activist Judge appointed in June, 2001.

14. Lok Ayukta: Focus on Service Delivery
Investigations:
Drug adulteration
Public hospitals (absenteeism, exploitation)
Transport and registration departments.
Corruption in municipal government
Volume of complaints triple in one year.
Wide publicity may be the best way to check corruption when courts don’t work...

15. Lok Ayukta In Action

16. Key lessons from Karnataka
Political commitment crucial for reform.
Administrative reformers empowered.
Civil society stoke pressure for change.
BATF: Model of public-private partnership.
Synergy among key actors in Karnataka.

17. The Role of the World Bank
Reinforce local initiatives through SALs.
Focus: first fiscal, expand to governance.
Time-table for home-grown reforms.
SALs strengthen reformers in government.
Efforts not uniformly successful.

18. Future Challenges Replicating Bangalore model.
Extending service delivery gains to rural areas.
Sustaining political commitment.