Mainstreaming Citizen Feedback on Service Delivery using ICTs : Findings and Lessons from ICT-based Feedback Surveys on Water Supply and Sanitation Services in Indian Cities
The water and sanitation sector inIndian cities is characterized by weak accountabilityprocesses and lack of customer orientation. Theinstitutional focus of service providers tends to be oncreating new assets, rather than delivery of services andperformance efficiency. Moreover, in the absence of reliableservice data, the planning processes that inform thecreation of new assets are often not aligned with the needsand priorities of citizens. In 2009, the Service LevelBenchmarks (SLB) program was introduced by the Government ofIndia’s Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) to strengthenthe focus on service delivery. Under this program, serviceproviders reportperformance on a standardized set ofindicators for delivery of water supply, wastewater, solidwaste management and storm-water drainage services. Whilethe SLB data have gradually become an integral component ofIndia’s urban reform formulations, the availability andquality of this data have tended to remain poor. It is alsoseen to reflect only the service providers’ point of view,not the citizens’ perspective on service delivery. In recentyears, various social accountability tools and participationprocesses have also been introduced in India to strengthenpressures for improved public services and foster citizens’involvement in planning processes. While these initiativeshave helped strengthen the overall focus on servicedelivery, basic services such as water and sanitation havelargely remained outside their purview. This report presentsthe findings, achievements and lessons that emerged fromimplementing the SLB-C initiative in Indian cities withvaried contexts, and its subsequent use under a nationalurban program. It provides recommendations for futuresimilar initiatives.
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