Critical Bulwark

At the best of times, even the best of governments cannot deliver on all its obligations to all the citizens. The reasons are not far to seek. Last mile connectivity of governmental reach has been a shortcoming, an intrinsic limitation, and this leaves many a needy person beyond her legitimate entitlement. When these deficits are multiplied over large geographies, it shows up as a stark governance failure. A vast number of people thus stay dissatisfied with the performance of the government of the day and deprived of their fair dues.

Governance can only be effective when the energies of different delivery agencies are converged at the interface with the receiver. As the interface is diluted with the presence of middle men, the quality and the cost of the delivery affects the receiver adversely. He gets shortchanged having to bear the brunt of the transaction which was his by legal entitlement and sanction of law. To eliminate the space occupied by the middle man is the key to better governance and higher satisfaction quotient among the governed, a vacuum that can be filled by technology only.

This is where the well run voluntary sector can play a vital role. Yes, the clincher key is obviously, ‘well run’. The voluntary sector or the NGO space in our country has been a mixed bag in terms of attitudes and competence in addressing their given mandates. Since they have to work with the community, they must have their trust and confidence. This trust and faith has sometimes been used to seek and play a role of political prominence and thus abetted a mutually beneficial equation. As politics and political preferences began to adjust NGO’s attitudes, this had the effect of erosion of the credibility of the voluntary sector. Nevertheless, the good ones continued their missions without getting involved in the political atmosphere. It is these community friendly organisations who can be pooled into government and civil society partnership for enhancing the governance paradigm.

In the third tier of governance, there are massive deficits for various reasons. Municipal governance in the country is still below par. Its effectiveness is average and its reach inhibited routine delivery of civic service. Specifically its functioning leaves a big sized hole in waste management, sanitation and hygiene and allied services by the local government. We all understand that this is a dimension of governance that is neglected for want of means and resources and dealing with a largely ignorant public who want hygiene and sanitation, but do not play their part in ensuring their own responsibility. Not only to build awareness, but also play a lead role in segregation, collection and ultimate disposal, only civil society can be the difference between a clean and waste-free city and a stinking one. The psychological aspect has to be addressed by inspiring pride in cleanliness in surroundings. This can come through those who have a deep community connect and cultivates the better impulses of the citizenship. The government arm has to be the benevolent partnership builder, guide and navigator and enabler. An empowered third tier government, hand hold the civil society enterprise to develop an aware citizenship will pave the urban governance effort with muscle and strength.

The reluctance of the government arm to link up with well-run NGOs is understandable. In the first instance who certifies the well-run tag. Above all who guarantees that the units is run with integrity and has high ethical benchmarks in its dealings internally and outside. All very valid concerns. These need to be overcome with some strategic and impartial assessment of well-defined protocols and standards. An independent and a reputed rating agency can be given the task to evaluate civil society organizations and maintain a dynamic and continuous rating mechanism, just as Moodys’ and ICRA’s like bodies do. Wherever partnerships are formed, these too would be evaluated on performance and delivery. So if there is a will, a way will be found.

All said and done, governance is also about constant improvisation and experimenting with small models which have the scalable strength. As it is, local governments across the board are very short on performance in delivery of civic services, hygiene and sanitation and face huge challenges in waste management. Only private and public can jointly build sustainable successes and for that there has to be respect for the private arm’s ability and willingness to play a credible role.

The writer is Former Director, India Habitat Centre. Views expressed are personal