Social Accountability in India: Moving from Mechanisms to Outcomes and Institutionalization in Large Scale Public Programs

Strengthening accountability relationships between policy makers, service providers and citizens is at the core of the public accountability effort. In the South Asia region, demand-side approaches involving social accountability processes are strengthening the voice and capacity of citizens to directly demand greater accountability and responsiveness from public officials and service providers. In this context a Workshop – Social Accountability in India: Moving from Mechanisms to Outcomes and Institutionalization in Large Scale Public Programs is scheduled on December 16-17, 2009 at Jaipur, India.

This National-level Workshop will feature the impacts of four social accountability interventions that have been introduced in large-scale public programs in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan through engagement with various levels of government. These interventions represent small but strategic investments in proportion to the budgets of these public programs, which run into the billions of rupees, but have catalyzed impacts in terms of behavior change in service users and providers, institutional and policy changes at various levels of government as well as development outcomes. The objective of this workshop is to draw out lessons and examine implications for institutionalization of these initiatives.

Primary participants will include key decision makers who can impact the enabling environment for the implementation and institutionalization of social accountability initiatives; government functionaries, who are directly involved in the ground implementation of development programs and World Bank Task Team Leaders working in relevant sectors. In addition, representatives from academia, civil society and donor organizations that can inform and guide these initiatives are also invited.

Workshop Report

Workshop Concept Note

Programme Schedule

Background materials

Session 1: Setting the Context

Session 2: Achieving Service Delivery and Health Development Outcomes, Maharashtra

Session 3: Improving Student Enrollment and Teacher Absenteeism Outcomes, Andhra Pradesh

Session 4: Improving the Public Expenditure Outcomes of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), Rajasthan

Session 5: Wage Seekers as Monitors and Government as Facilitators, Social Audits of NREGS in Andhra Pradesh

Learning Notes and Background Papers

Learning Notes Series: