India - Improving Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Services : Lessons from Business Plans for Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and International Good Practices

World Bank

Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS TO CAPITAL;    ACCOUNTABILITY TO CUSTOMERS;    ASSET HOLDING COMPANY;    ASSET OWNERSHIP;    BASIC SANITATION;   

RP-ID  :  70901

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The purpose of this report is to distilllessons learnt for improving Water Supply and Sanitation(WSS) services in India, by reference to the recent WSSbusiness plans prepared for the three states of Maharashtra,Rajasthan and Haryana and from various studies carried outby the World Bank on international good practices in urbanwater service delivery. The report culls out the coreelements of the WSS reform program and proposes how suchreforms might be implemented. The intended audience for thisreport is policy makers at the national and state levels,sector professionals and practitioners. The reportidentifies the key elements of a state-wide program forimproving WSS services and accountability on the basis ofthe following three pillars: i) policies and institutions:appropriate policies and institutional arrangements thatclarify the roles and responsibilities of key actors, andwhich create service providers that are efficient,accountable and customer focused with sufficient autonomy tomanage their affairs in a professional manner; ii)infrastructure and financing: medium term infrastructuredevelopment program with appropriate financial frameworksthat encourage service providers to rely increasingly onuser fees and, later on, loans as their main sources offinancing. Any subsidies within that framework should beprovided in a targeted and transparent manner to supportgovernment policies; and iii) capacity building forprofessional services: ensuring well trained, knowledgeableand motivated staff to deliver the services in a highquality manner. To put the sector in context, the reportbegins by summarizing the results of various internationalstudies undertaken over the last several years by the WorldBank to better understand the makings of well run public WSScompanies. These findings point towards the need toestablish sectors which encourage the development ofautonomous, accountable and customer oriented serviceproviders. Within that framework the report providessuggestions on practical steps that can be taken bygovernments and service providers.