India

In 2010, Uttarakhand entered the second decade of its existence as a separate State. During the first decade, average individual incomes rose by eight ranks in relation... Show More + to the other States in India. Although these incomes are still below the median for India, they are growing significantly faster, which is leading to rapid convergence with the richer States. Looking ahead, the State can build upon its existing growth momentum, the economic diversification that has resulted from its industrial promotion policies, its favorable location in the dynamic North Indian economy, and good natural resources and skills bases to raise standards of living. This report intends to provide inputs for development thinking that is underway during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period. It covers the subjects of growth, inclusion, sustainability, public finance and administration, responding to the Government’s request for a discussion of these areas. It attempts to strike a balance between broad-brushed strategies and specific and practical recommendations, bringing to bear experience from other States and countries when needed. The overall message to policymakers is: Over the next decade, Uttarakhand should aim to become the preferred State in North India for (a) investing in the production of high value goods and in services; (b) livability; (c) greening; and (d) good government. The global community, including India’s multilateral and bilateral development partners can be rich sources of knowledge about design, funds, and implementation support for the State Government’s development program. Early actions to engage a wide variety of development partners is likely to help Uttarakhand effectively and efficiently traverse a challenging and unique development path. Show Less -

This Global Environment Facility (GEF)-Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) quarterly newsletter includes the following headings: SUTP; promoting Transit Oriented... Show More + Development (TOD) as an inclusive growth strategy for Indian cities; developing successful TOD projects; TOD examples from around the world; making TODs happen: relevance in the Indian context; naya Raipur: visioning transit oriented developments in a greenfield context; public transport and public awareness-a Layman's view; and conclusion. Show Less -

Some of the headings included in this newsletter of the World Bank in India are: nutrition centers in Andhra Pradesh; views on the Indian economy by Roberto Zagha; development... Show More + dialogue: women a key force for South Asia region's future-Isabel Guerrero; Implementation and Completion Report (ICR) update: Technical Engineering Education Quality Improvement Project; recent project signings and events; and new additions to the public information center. Show Less -

Social accountability initiatives are now an established part of the governance agenda in India. Accountability tools that were first pioneered by citizens to hold service... Show More + providers to account are now institutionalized and implemented by government itself. While this is a significant trend in itself, the scale up and institutionalization of these citizen-driven initiatives present a new set of questions on how to measure their impacts. To date, a number of these initiatives have been carried out but with limited evidence of their impacts on service delivery and development outcomes. Quite often, indicators to assess these accountability interventions are too broad and do not capture complex and multi-layered change. Between the introduction of an accountability intervention and the development outcomes that these interventions are targeted to achieve, there are a several types of changes that must take place. A framework for assessing social accountability interventions was developed from the experiences of three accountability interventions introduced in large-scale public programs in India. These public programs include the public education system in Andhra Pradesh, District-level development services in Maharashtra and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Rajasthan. This increase in information and awareness then initiates a series of behavior changes within the practices of citizens, individually and collectively. First, they develop information-seeking behavior, seeking out information on service delivery from service providers that they normally would not. Social accountability interventions, such as community scorecards, specifically focus on creating constructive spaces for face-to-face dialogue between service users and frontline service providers. Show Less -

This brief includes the following headings: increasing access to land by the rural poor in India; and KCP projects on service delivery for the poor.

This report sets out various options for regulatory reform of the Indian port sector. The terms of reference from The World Bank require the Author making recommendations... Show More + to the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) with respect to alternative institutional and legal options for regulation of the port sector in India as well as analysing key considerations in the regulation of this sector and the way they are being addressed in the Indian Ports (Consolidated) Act, 2010, which has been drafted recently. This report is solution-oriented and focuses on day-to-day problems of Indian port management. The problems of the Indian ports (including those of tariff regulation by TAMP) are well known, thoroughly analysed, described in detail and widely discussed in the port sector. A final solution for the restructuring of the sector has not yet been found. This report is written with a view to outlining various alternatives which may help the competent authorities to make final decisions on a new/revised port sector regulatory framework. Show Less -

This paper addresses recommendations made by the 13th Finance Committee (FC) meeting of India. The paper discusses the design and the effectiveness of inter-state transfers,... Show More + and the fiscal path proposed by the FC for the years 2011-15, in particular the design and implementation of the Golden Rule and the recommendation of a fiscal strategy built around the idea of an expansionary fiscal consolidation with no compression of development expenditures. The analysis in this paper suggests directions for the work of future finance commissions, and for the stance of India's fiscal policy over the nearer term. The recommendations are: future finance commissions need to consider the effectiveness of transfers, and tax devolution; the composition of the fiscal consolidation path recommended by the FC compares well with that of some successful consolidations, but very successful ones would probably cut in half the increase in the tax burden, further reducing subsidy spending; and the Golden Rule should be applied correctly, recognizing that capital consumption is part of current expenditure. If the Golden Rule was applied correctly, there is no reason why India should keep reducing its public debt ratio beyond that level. The study concludes that through prudent fiscal policies, India has created significant fiscal space that could be used to accelerate public investment and help consolidate high growth. Accelerating public investment could make high growth more sustainable, and this may be the main macroeconomic choice facing India today. Show Less -

Executive Directors approved the e-Delivery of public services Development Policy Loan (DPL) to the Republic of India in the amount of $150 million on the payment terms... Show More + and conditions set out in the President's Memorandum (R2011-0052). Executive Directors expressed support for the DPL. Directors welcomed the program's benefits for the vulnerable and the poor, as well as the emphasis on private sector participation. They noted that the policy areas supported by the loan are designed to help alleviate constraints to the implementation of the government's program. Show Less -

This note attempts to cover the basic concepts relating to the use of social accountability and information technology to monitor and evaluate public services and other... Show More + governance processes that affect citizens. With the help of simple though practical examples that use these concepts, the note explains how to bring a qualitative change in monitoring and evaluation by making the whole process more citizen centered and outcome oriented. In turn, these practices can help improve the quality of service delivery. The note also covers a few country-specific initiatives from India to support the related arguments. Show Less -

India's surge in growth and rapid expansion in public spending in the past decade has created new possibilities for its social protection system. The growing importance... Show More + of social protection (SP) is reflected in the Government of India (GoI) common minimum program and eleventh five year plan which commit to institutionalization of programs as legal rights (as in the case of public works, through the national rural employment guarantee act), continued up-scaling of interventions (e.g., social pensions and midday meals), and proposals to expand new types of SP interventions to the large unorganized sector (e.g., social security). The report draws on existing and new data sources,. including analysis of: (i) administrative data; (ii) several rounds of the National Sample Survey (NSS) data; (iii) a social protection survey (SPS) undertaken for this report in 2006 in rural areas of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka; (iv) dedicated surveys on social pensions in Karnataka (KSPS) and Rajasthan (RSPS) in 2005 and 2006 respectively; and (v) a living standards survey conducted in Jharkhand in 2005 (JLSS). In addition, the report incorporates a rich body of secondary sources on SP program performance and impact by national researchers and government agencies. Show Less -