Crafting credible public systems

Source: The post is based on an article “Crafting credible public systems” published in the Business Standard on14th July 2022.

Syllabus: GS2 Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.

Relevance: Public Management;

News: Recently, the government has approved the New National Education Policy and the Mission Karmayogi.

These policies and missions are the outcome of intensive consultation at all levels. But their successful implementation will depend upon various other aspects.

What are the issues in the formulation of public policies?

The public policies, so formulated do not include detail such as

– how the policy will be carried out,

– what skill sets would be required,

– what technology use options are available,

– how financing will be planned and provided, and

– how communities will become central to the implementation process, etc.

Most of the implementations are done in a centralized way which do not address the needs of the vulnerable and deprived households. Therefore, a number of poor households are often left behind during the process of beneficiary selection, even after using the most sophisticated technology.

Poor implementations happen due to non-availability of the credible public system. In reality, public goods and pro-poor asset are not available in the sufficient manner. For example, there have been market failures in the healthcare system, on account of information asymmetry.

While technology offers many solutions to long pending challenges. But technology is a means and not an end. Further, despite technological intervention, there is a need for strong last-mile facilitation.

– For example, the successful implementation of the Direct benefit transfer (DBT) and Aadhaar-linked payments required sincere local-level effort. The frontline workers, panchayats, women’s self-help groups (SHGs) have played key roles in ensuring outcomes.

Consequences of the poor public system

Human development is integral to a person’s ability to exercise his/her freedom of choice. Therefore, there cannot be any compromise in access to public services.

Deficiency in the public goods and asset base compromises the ability of deprived households to exercise freedom of choice. In addition, the deprived household can also not fully leverage the benefit of technology. For example, it was found that poorer communities and those living in remote regions could not access high quality online education during the Covid pandemic.

Way Forward

The government should develop credible public systems to provide quality public goods in the field of healthcare, education sector etc. For example, Singapore’s education system is known for its excellence.

The governments can do so by ensuring last-mile facilitation and public information is available to the deprived households. For example, the states which have followed these principles implemented the Ayushman Bharat’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) in a better way.

More priority should be given to human resource challenges in India. India needs a greater number of managers than magistrates for human development outcomes. The government needs to harness the best skills and capacity to make a real difference. For example, the State Government of Tamil Nadu has developed a robust public health cadre. Therefore, it is able to operationalise many health initiatives far more effectively than many other states due to availability of human resources.

The government should facilitate more than doing regulation. For example, there should be transparent reasons for approval or rejection, simplified compliance parameters etc. These measures will build trust.

The government needs to focus on decentralisation within the framework of the Eleventh and Twelfth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Thereon, the power of elected panchayats can be harnessed.

In addition to this, the mobilisation of women can be done through self-help groups movement etc.