An evaluation study conducted on the functioning and relevance of the Karnataka Jnana Aayoga (KJA), the State’s Knowledge Commission, favoured continuation of the KJA for a longer period for effective implementation of policies and better governance.
The Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Bangalore, which conducted the evaluation, said: “It was universally accepted that the KJA should continue to exist for a longer term so that the projects and initiatives such as the K-GIS, Mobile Internet Vans will be implemented with a long-term perspective. The KJA has played an important role in bringing a change in the attitudeof the people with respect to the functioning of the government.”
The KJA was constituted on September 5, 2008, under the chairmanship of noted space scientist K. Kasturirangan, MP, with M.K. Sridhar, as Member Secretary and Executive Director. The PAC assessed the KJA’s work by holding interviews with planers, implementers and users of various projects. The KJA will close its operations by month-end. .
The KJA played a crucial role in the formulation of government policies such as the Youth Policy of 2012 and a policy (under consideration) for distribution of drugs in public hospitals. Many new ideas and initiatives, which were not addressed by institutions before, were picked up by the KJA, it said.
The 53-page report said “the whole process followed by the KJA could address the gap existed between desired reforms and existing system in place”.
When asked about how useful the recommendations/projects/research studies were towards achieving the goal of transforming Karnataka into a vibrant knowledge society, all users (100 per cent) found them to be useful (extremely useful 57 per cent and useful 43 per cent).
Satisfied
Nearly 70 per cent of the planners have expressed their satisfaction with regard to the processes that were followed in generating the respective recommendation /project/research study, of which half of them have mentioned that they were extremely satisfied. Interestingly, 12 per cent of the planners expressed their dissatisfaction, while 18 per cent expressed their indifference since they felt that they had not been implemented properly and have not yet reached the local people.
