accountability

Public sector service delivery in India is notorious for its low coverage, poor quality and high corruption. This is in striking contrast to the political commitment toinclusive development, and the aspirations of the Indian Constitution. Read more »

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Aishwarya Panicker, Accountability Initiative

How does a hierarchical, top-down state respond to efforts to become directly accountable to its citizens? This paper analyses this question through India’s experience with implementing social audits for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the state of Andhra Pradesh (AP), India. Read more »

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The Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) offers a technology-driven solution to strengthen the monitoring framework and information flows of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS). It is being implemented in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar since 2010 and 2012, respectively. Read more »

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In 2014’s first blog, I continue to digress from the dense topic of public finance theories to the question of peoples’ participation in democracy. This way, I believe I have a better chance of penetrating the brain haze that descends in the last week of the year and continues well into the next. Read more »

Aishwarya Panicker, Accountability Initiative

Those familiar with the Indian political system will know of the roles and responsibilities of a member of parliament (MP). What do they do? If we were to go solely by news reports, hair-pulling, wielding microphones as weapons and occasional rioting form the bulk of the MP’s activity in parliament. However, MP’s are primarily known to don the part of a legislator- elected to debate & discuss issues of national importance, serve on committees and pass legislations of national relevance. The initiation of certain schemes, however, led to the coalescing of their duty as a legislator and that of performing executive functions. The passing of the Members of Parliament-Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) was such a decision. Now in its twentieth year, the scheme provides MPs a chance to not only route public money in areas that they believe need assistance in their constituency, but also expands their role as representatives of the people. Before delving into the controversial areas of the scheme, this blog tries to explore what the MPLADS is and what it aims to achieve. Read more »

Aishwarya Panicker, Accountability Initiative                            

I attended the Fourth National Right to Information (RTI) Convention in Hyderabad, organized by the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) on the 17^th and 18^th of February, 2013. In the midst of RTI legends, Nikhil Dey and Aruna Roy, were a large number of supporters that included social scientists, professors, government officials, and community workers. Several other genuinely-interested citizens, most of whom have used the RTI to avail public information, were also present. The Convention, in essence, was an initiative to encourage a conversation on the multiple facets around transparency, as well as help shape the priorities of the NCPRI in terms of what their focus areas for the next two years should be. Read more »

This powerpoint presentation is a compendium of a lot of ideas which bring together technology and accountability. It would certainly give a lot of food for thought for anybody planning to come for our bar-camp on June 5th and 6th. Read more »

A lot is said about how increased information in the public domain would lead to greater accountability. Community radio, internet, community video etc are all touted to be powerful solutions to increased accountability. Read more »