After unveiling a spree of welfare and development schemes, the State government has decided to obtain feedback on their implementation at the grassroot level for improving delivery and outcomes of its initiatives.
The government has decided to conduct independent surveys covering multiple sectors for ascertaining the ground level situation and invited expression of interest from organisations for conducting the same. Organisations with experience in conducting multi-sectoral surveys can submit their applications to the State Planning and Development Board before December 31.
The exercise follows the memorandum of understanding signed with the Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States (CEGIS) a couple of months ago. As part of the MoU, a four-pronged approach would be adopted for collection of independent data on key outcomes and processes across multiple sectors so that the data could be used for improving performance and personnel management for effective delivery of services.
CEGIS founder Karthik Muralidharan, accompanied by a 12-member delegation from the Centre, was in the city for the past few days to hold preliminary discussions with senior officials on the programmes that are being implemented in the State and their outcomes. The deliberations are understood to have focused on the outreach of the welfare schemes and their impact on the development indices to ascertain the last mile gaps, if any.
The focus was primarily on key sectors like Health, Education, Rural Development and Agriculture among others. Prof. Muralidharan, who is also board member and global chair of education of J-PAL’s education sector, is learnt to have enquired about the implementation of different schemes with senior officials during the three-day deliberations which concluded on Wednesday.
The exercise will now be followed by independent surveys at the ground level for improving their outreach and effectiveness further. “The government has initiated a series of welfare measures like residential schools for different sections and KCR Kits for enhancing institutional deliveries. Feedback on their implementation at the ground level through surveys will help bridge the gaps if any and improve the efficacy of these schemes,” a senior official told The Hindu .
