Sushasan Vol. 02, Issue 12, May, 2017

Vision –“Equal opportunity to all through Good Governance geared to improve the quality of lives of our people."

Newsletter of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance & Policy Analysis

Akhilesh ArgalDirector

From the Editor’s

Dear Readers,

Madhya Pradesh was the first Indian state to legislate a Public Service Guarantee Act named “Madhya Pradesh Lok Sevon Ke Pradan Ki Guarantee Adhiniyam” in August, 2010. This has been followed by enactments in the states of Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Assam, Gujarat, West Bengal, and Goa. The Institute has taken up a study to compare the different service guarantee Acts in terms of number of services and departments covered, penalty and timelines for delivery of services etc. The methodology followed in this study is desk based research. A brief of the study is in this month's Newsletter.

India being one of the most disaster prone countries and agriculture being the source of livelihood of the majority of its people, crop insurance occupies an important place. The Institute took up a study to understand and assess various crop insurance schemes and risk management approaches in India and other countries and propose a suitable strategy

for India. A brief of the major findings and recommendations is in the Newsletter.

Quality is one of the important cornerstones of any organization. It is not an isolated activity but made up of several components at various levels. Looking at the way public services are growing world over, it is essential that leaders should have an eye on quality. There is an interesting reading on "Quality" in this month's Newsletter by Shri M. M. Upadhyay, Principal Advisor, Centre for Social Sector Development of the Institute.

It is always better to refresh our knowledge and keeping this in mind, an in-house training programme was conducted during April 2017 in the Institute on research methodology and data analysis to familiarize the core staff with contemporary tools and techniques. Dr. Anitha Govindaraj, Deputy Advisor, coordinated the training programme. The details of the programme can be seen in the Newsletter.

Your comments on the Newsletter will be greatly appreciated.

Institute News

Project Roundup

An in-house training programme was conducted

during April 2017 in the Institute so as to refresh the

knowledge of the core staff members in research

methodology and data analysis and also to familiarize

them with contemporary tools and techniques. The

training was provided by a few core staff members

possessing the necessary expertise and experience in

the area, with Dr. Anitha Govindaraj, Deputy Advisor

coordinating the same. Attended by all the core staff

members of the Institute, the lecture contents were

carefully designed as per their requirements and

keeping in view the kind of research being done at

AIGGPA. The training started with introduction to

In-house Training Programme on Research Methodology and Data Analysis

research methods by Dr. Mangala Gowri and then Dr.

Anitha Govindaraj, Smt. Ritu Maheswari, Dr. Indrani

Barpujari, Shri. Gaurav Khare and Shri. Gaurav

Agrawal gave a series of lectures on various important

topics such as descriptive statistics, hypothesis

testing, correlation, and regression, graphical

representation of data, citations and references. The

pedagogy included practical training on how to apply

various statistical tests using MS-Excel. The training

has been found relevant by the core staff members in

enhancing their capabilities and felt that the

knowledge acquired will be useful in their future

research projects.

India being one of the most disaster prone countries

and agriculture being the source of livelihood of the

majority of its people, crop insurance occupies an

important place. Hence, an attempt has been made to

understand and assess various crop insurance

schemes and risk management approaches in India,

Madhya Pradesh (MP) and other countries and

propose a suitable strategy for India. The study has

been coordinated by Dr. Anitha Govindaraj of the

Institute.

The specific objectives of the study are:

l To do a situation analysis for understanding the

challenges faced in implementing the recent crop

insurance models such as MNAIS (Modified

National Agricultural Insurance Scheme), WBCIS

(Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme) and

PMFBY (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana) at the

state and national level.

l To study the economics of the latest crop

insurance schemes vis-a-vis the disaster aids to

farmers in MP.

l To study the weather risk mitigating strategies for

agriculture followed in other countries such as

Brazil, USA, China, Mexico and Africa.

Crop Insurance Models and Relief Measures in India and Madhya Pradesh

l To suggest an appropriate agriculture weather

risk management strategy that can be adopted in

India.

The study is based on both primary and secondary

data collected from various sources. Various

stakeholders such as the AIC (Agriculture Insurance

Corporation), banks, private insurance agencies and

Department of Agriculture were consulted to

understand the issues in implementation of the crop

insurance programs. To explore the perception of the

farmers regarding crop insurance, 200 farmers from 4

districts in MP were interviewed.

Major Findings

The performance of the major crop insurance

schemes-NAIS, MNAIS, WBCIS and PBFBY at the

national level and state level were studied. It was

observed that penetration rate of all the schemes was

low and for NAIS, the claim premium ratio was more

than 300 percent costing the government heavily. The

performance of MP in terms of the number of farmers

insured and area brought under insurance cover was

better under NAIS as compared to other states.

WBCIS has performed well only in Rajasthan and

Bihar. MNAIS has been implemented by few states

alone. PMFBY launched during Kharif, 2016 has

covered 366.64 lakh farmers accounting to 26.5 %

penetration in India and bringing 388 lakh hectares

under insurance cover which is 15 percent more than

the previous year. The sum insured under PBFBY has

also increased by 104 percent. The coverage of non-

loanee farmers has also increased by 6 times.

The performance of crop insurance (NAIS) in MP is

better and is showing an increasing trend in

penetration rates. There is no correlation among the

penetration rates and drought vulnerability in

districts. Ujjain, Dewas, Sehore, Vidhisha, Rajgarh

and Mandsour are districts, which occupy the major

share of the insured area in the state while the

penetration rates are extremely poor in the eastern

and northern belt of MP. In MP, farmers are mostly

affected by drought/flood during Kharif and hail

stones /frost in Rabi season. Most of the surveyed

farmers in MP were oblivious of the details of the crop

insurance schemes. The awareness levels have

improved for PMFBY. Majority of the farmers are not

very much interested in crop insurance due to issues

such as improper loss assessments, inadequate and

delayed claim payments, and poor response from the

banks. Farmers are more aware about the relief

payments and prefer relief to crop insurance.

The most common insurance product in the

international market is the Multi Peril Crop Insurance

(MPCI), which covers multiple risks and is the largest

insurance product in terms of the premium collected

in USA. Most of the countries subsidize the crop

insurance program heavily and especially in USA,

where it is claimed to be successful and covers around

80 percent of the cropped area, MPCI is subsidized to

the extent of 70-80 percent by the government. In

China also, crop insurance is becoming popular only

after the government has increased public funding by

70 percent in 2007. Only in few countries such as

Germany, Australia and New Zealand, crop insurance

products are a purely private business without any

government interference. In Kenya, Kilimo Salamo – a

mobile based insurance product is successfully

providing coverage against losses and operates purely

in the private sector.

Recommendations

The effective implementation of PMFBY requires

timely redressal of common complaints such as

inadequate sum assured and claim payments, non-

representative CCEs (Crop Cutting Experiments),

error in yield & loss assessments, delayed payments

etc. Government needs to concentrate more on

regulatory roles and infrastructure development

while, private insurance service providers should be

encouraged in executing PMFBY and improving the

insurance product. Weather Index based insurance

needs to be promoted by improving the density of

weather stations, as it is cost effective as compared to

area based insurance products. Mobile based

insurance product (Kilimo Salamo type) needs to be

pilot tested in India as mobile phones have more

penetration in rural aeas.

To protect farmers from losses due to weather risk, we

need to build an appropriate comprehensive risk

mitigation strategy rather than just focusing on one

strategy of crop insurance as a silver bullet to address

the weather risk problem of farmers. Apart from crop

insurance programs, government needs to focus on

other strategies such as developing resistant

varieties, encouraging farmers to cultivate risk

resistant crop varieties through policy measures such

as variable interest rates for crop loans, variable

premium rates and favorable MSPs (Minimum

Support Prices) for risk resistant crops. Rather than

just relying on the banks for selling insurance

products, other outlets and micro-insurance agents

need to be deployed in rural areas.

The disaster relief payments tend to have a negative

impact on the penetration of the insurance products

as farmers prefer relief to insurance because it is

available free of cost. Once the crop insurance is

standardized with the help of technology,

government needs to replace relief payments with

crop insurance using USA- NAP (Non Insured Crop

Disaster Assistance Programme) type model.

Government needs to focus seriously on creation of

awareness among farmers regarding the various

aspects of crop insurance. Farmers are more prone to

price risk apart from weather risk and, hence, in the

long term, we should move towards crop revenue

insurance. Thus, a more committed and

comprehensive approach towards weather risk

management is needed to protect farmers from huge

losses in farming.

Institute News

Project Roundup

An in-house training programme was conducted

during April 2017 in the Institute so as to refresh the

knowledge of the core staff members in research

methodology and data analysis and also to familiarize

them with contemporary tools and techniques. The

training was provided by a few core staff members

possessing the necessary expertise and experience in

the area, with Dr. Anitha Govindaraj, Deputy Advisor

coordinating the same. Attended by all the core staff

members of the Institute, the lecture contents were

carefully designed as per their requirements and

keeping in view the kind of research being done at

AIGGPA. The training started with introduction to

In-house Training Programme on Research Methodology and Data Analysis

research methods by Dr. Mangala Gowri and then Dr.

Anitha Govindaraj, Smt. Ritu Maheswari, Dr. Indrani

Barpujari, Shri. Gaurav Khare and Shri. Gaurav

Agrawal gave a series of lectures on various important

topics such as descriptive statistics, hypothesis

testing, correlation, and regression, graphical

representation of data, citations and references. The

pedagogy included practical training on how to apply

various statistical tests using MS-Excel. The training

has been found relevant by the core staff members in

enhancing their capabilities and felt that the

knowledge acquired will be useful in their future

research projects.

India being one of the most disaster prone countries

and agriculture being the source of livelihood of the

majority of its people, crop insurance occupies an

important place. Hence, an attempt has been made to

understand and assess various crop insurance

schemes and risk management approaches in India,

Madhya Pradesh (MP) and other countries and

propose a suitable strategy for India. The study has

been coordinated by Dr. Anitha Govindaraj of the

Institute.

The specific objectives of the study are:

l To do a situation analysis for understanding the

challenges faced in implementing the recent crop

insurance models such as MNAIS (Modified

National Agricultural Insurance Scheme), WBCIS

(Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme) and

PMFBY (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana) at the

state and national level.

l To study the economics of the latest crop

insurance schemes vis-a-vis the disaster aids to

farmers in MP.

l To study the weather risk mitigating strategies for

agriculture followed in other countries such as

Brazil, USA, China, Mexico and Africa.

Crop Insurance Models and Relief Measures in India and Madhya Pradesh

l To suggest an appropriate agriculture weather

risk management strategy that can be adopted in

India.

The study is based on both primary and secondary

data collected from various sources. Various

stakeholders such as the AIC (Agriculture Insurance

Corporation), banks, private insurance agencies and

Department of Agriculture were consulted to

understand the issues in implementation of the crop

insurance programs. To explore the perception of the

farmers regarding crop insurance, 200 farmers from 4

districts in MP were interviewed.

Major Findings

The performance of the major crop insurance

schemes-NAIS, MNAIS, WBCIS and PBFBY at the

national level and state level were studied. It was

observed that penetration rate of all the schemes was

low and for NAIS, the claim premium ratio was more

than 300 percent costing the government heavily. The

performance of MP in terms of the number of farmers

insured and area brought under insurance cover was

better under NAIS as compared to other states.

WBCIS has performed well only in Rajasthan and

Bihar. MNAIS has been implemented by few states

alone. PMFBY launched during Kharif, 2016 has

covered 366.64 lakh farmers accounting to 26.5 %

penetration in India and bringing 388 lakh hectares

under insurance cover which is 15 percent more than

the previous year. The sum insured under PBFBY has

also increased by 104 percent. The coverage of non-

loanee farmers has also increased by 6 times.

The performance of crop insurance (NAIS) in MP is

better and is showing an increasing trend in

penetration rates. There is no correlation among the

penetration rates and drought vulnerability in

districts. Ujjain, Dewas, Sehore, Vidhisha, Rajgarh

and Mandsour are districts, which occupy the major

share of the insured area in the state while the

penetration rates are extremely poor in the eastern

and northern belt of MP. In MP, farmers are mostly

affected by drought/flood during Kharif and hail

stones /frost in Rabi season. Most of the surveyed

farmers in MP were oblivious of the details of the crop

insurance schemes. The awareness levels have

improved for PMFBY. Majority of the farmers are not

very much interested in crop insurance due to issues

such as improper loss assessments, inadequate and

delayed claim payments, and poor response from the

banks. Farmers are more aware about the relief

payments and prefer relief to crop insurance.

The most common insurance product in the

international market is the Multi Peril Crop Insurance

(MPCI), which covers multiple risks and is the largest

insurance product in terms of the premium collected

in USA. Most of the countries subsidize the crop

insurance program heavily and especially in USA,

where it is claimed to be successful and covers around

80 percent of the cropped area, MPCI is subsidized to

the extent of 70-80 percent by the government. In

China also, crop insurance is becoming popular only

after the government has increased public funding by

70 percent in 2007. Only in few countries such as

Germany, Australia and New Zealand, crop insurance

products are a purely private business without any

government interference. In Kenya, Kilimo Salamo – a

mobile based insurance product is successfully

providing coverage against losses and operates purely

in the private sector.

Recommendations

The effective implementation of PMFBY requires

timely redressal of common complaints such as

inadequate sum assured and claim payments, non-

representative CCEs (Crop Cutting Experiments),

error in yield & loss assessments, delayed payments

etc. Government needs to concentrate more on

regulatory roles and infrastructure development

while, private insurance service providers should be

encouraged in executing PMFBY and improving the

insurance product. Weather Index based insurance

needs to be promoted by improving the density of

weather stations, as it is cost effective as compared to

area based insurance products. Mobile based

insurance product (Kilimo Salamo type) needs to be

pilot tested in India as mobile phones have more

penetration in rural aeas.

To protect farmers from losses due to weather risk, we

need to build an appropriate comprehensive risk

mitigation strategy rather than just focusing on one

strategy of crop insurance as a silver bullet to address

the weather risk problem of farmers. Apart from crop

insurance programs, government needs to focus on

other strategies such as developing resistant

varieties, encouraging farmers to cultivate risk

resistant crop varieties through policy measures such

as variable interest rates for crop loans, variable

premium rates and favorable MSPs (Minimum

Support Prices) for risk resistant crops. Rather than

just relying on the banks for selling insurance

products, other outlets and micro-insurance agents

need to be deployed in rural areas.

The disaster relief payments tend to have a negative

impact on the penetration of the insurance products

as farmers prefer relief to insurance because it is

available free of cost. Once the crop insurance is

standardized with the help of technology,

government needs to replace relief payments with

crop insurance using USA- NAP (Non Insured Crop

Disaster Assistance Programme) type model.

Government needs to focus seriously on creation of

awareness among farmers regarding the various

aspects of crop insurance. Farmers are more prone to

price risk apart from weather risk and, hence, in the

long term, we should move towards crop revenue

insurance. Thus, a more committed and

comprehensive approach towards weather risk

management is needed to protect farmers from huge

losses in farming.

The Right to Service Act is a key administrative reform

initiative, built on the idea of the Citizen Charter.

While the Citizen Charters define the quality of public

services, the Act takes it a step further by making a

citizen’s right to public service within the stipulated

time-frame legally binding, failing which the

concerned officials can be penalized.

Madhya Pradesh (MP) was the first Indian state to

legislate a Public Service Guarantee Act named

“Madhya Pradesh Lok Sevon Ke Pradan Ki Guarantee

Adhiniyam” in August, 2010. This has been followed

by enactments of Right to Service Acts in the states of

Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh,

Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,

Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and

Kashmir, Odisha, Assam, Gujarat, West Bengal, and

Goa. In MP, the Department of Public Service

Management was created to give impetus to the

implementation of the “Madhya Pradesh Lok Sewaon

Ke Pradan Ki Guarantee Adhiniyam”.

The Institute has taken up a study to compare the

different services guarantee acts in terms of number

Study on Right to Service Acts of Select Indian States

of services and departments covered, penalty and

timelines for delivery of services etc. The

methodology followed in this study is desk based

research. Fourteen states- Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan,

Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Delhi,

Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Odisha were

chosen for the study.

The study has been conducted by Shri Amitabh

Shrivastava, Deputy Advisor, Centre for Knowledge

Management.

The common provisions of the Right to Service Act like

notifying services with timelines, designated officers

for delivering services, provision of penalty and two

appeals etc. are almost similar across different states

in India.

Number of notified services and departments of

states

There is significant difference in number of services

notified under the various Acts. Madhya Pradesh

state is at the 10th rank among 18 states taken up for

the study.

Timelines of some notified services across different states

There is significant difference in timelines in different states for the same service, as is evident from the following

table:

The Right to Service Act is a key administrative reform

initiative, built on the idea of the Citizen Charter.

While the Citizen Charters define the quality of public

services, the Act takes it a step further by making a

citizen’s right to public service within the stipulated

time-frame legally binding, failing which the

concerned officials can be penalized.

Madhya Pradesh (MP) was the first Indian state to

legislate a Public Service Guarantee Act named

“Madhya Pradesh Lok Sevon Ke Pradan Ki Guarantee

Adhiniyam” in August, 2010. This has been followed

by enactments of Right to Service Acts in the states of

Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh,

Kerala, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,

Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and

Kashmir, Odisha, Assam, Gujarat, West Bengal, and

Goa. In MP, the Department of Public Service

Management was created to give impetus to the

implementation of the “Madhya Pradesh Lok Sewaon

Ke Pradan Ki Guarantee Adhiniyam”.

The Institute has taken up a study to compare the

different services guarantee acts in terms of number

Study on Right to Service Acts of Select Indian States

of services and departments covered, penalty and

timelines for delivery of services etc. The

methodology followed in this study is desk based

research. Fourteen states- Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan,

Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Delhi,

Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Odisha were

chosen for the study.

The study has been conducted by Shri Amitabh

Shrivastava, Deputy Advisor, Centre for Knowledge

Management.

The common provisions of the Right to Service Act like

notifying services with timelines, designated officers

for delivering services, provision of penalty and two

appeals etc. are almost similar across different states

in India.

Number of notified services and departments of

states

There is significant difference in number of services

notified under the various Acts. Madhya Pradesh

state is at the 10th rank among 18 states taken up for

the study.

Timelines of some notified services across different states

There is significant difference in timelines in different states for the same service, as is evident from the following

table:

Thus, there is clear scope for reducing the timeline of various notified services in MP. AIGGPA has suggested

reduction in timeline in the following services:

The state government is trying to increase the

number of services under the Act in a phased manner.

On the basis of the study, the Institute has

recommended 78 new services, (covered in other

states) on priority basis, for inclusion under the Act.

Though MP was the first state to enact the Right to

Service Act in the country, the study shows that some

of the states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi,

Punjab, Odisha have taken the lead in bring more and

more services under the Act. Karnataka has brought

all the important citizen services under the Act.

While delivering citizen services, one may keep in

mind the famous statement of Mahatma Gandhi (In a

speech in South Africa in 1890)-

"A customer is the most important visitor on our premises.

He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.

He is not an interruption of our work; he is the purpose of it.

He is not an outsider of our business; he is part of it.

We are not doing him a favour by serving him.

He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so”

References: 1. UNDP Report on National Consultation on Strengthening

Delivery and Accountability Frameworks for Public Services, 8-9 December 2011, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

2. Report of Centre for Organization Development, Hyderabad.3. Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy Research, Dharam

Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.4. Official website of various State Governments.

Viewpoint

Quality - Let out Work Speak about It

Quality is one of the important cornerstones of any

organization. It is not an isolated activity but made up

of several components at various levels. Looking at

the way public services are growing world over, it is

essential that leaders should have an eye on quality.

To give it a permanent basis, some organizations have

developed manuals or hand books to constantly assist

and guide its employees.

Quality can be defined as anything that enhances a

product or service from the point of view of the

customers or users or the community at large. Public

administrators generally have to deal with issues that

are relevant to the community at large. To illustrate

the point, there can be:

1. guide to quality improvement for medical

services system;

2. quality manual for construction of rural roads;

3. manual for quality improvement in school

education.

These manuals can help in monitoring and improving

quality in various systems. Quality improvement is a

continuous process in all areas of public

administration and none can ever say that you had

enough of it.

Components of quality and what is expected out of

particular services need to be defined for each

department. These manuals provide a useful guide

for quality improvement within the organization. This

also encourages the leaders to integrate continuous

quality improvement practices into its operation so

that over a period of time, these become part of the

normal routine. These manuals are very important

documents and should be developed by professionals

in consultation with persons who would be using

these.

While the specific activities may differ depending

upon the nature of the organization- local, regional or

state-wise, the developmental stages can be:-

1. developing an awareness and appreciation that

quality improvement is a worth-while endeavor;

2. expanding workforce knowledge and capabilities

in quality improvement practices;

3. integrating quality processes into daily

operations.

Quality interventions are a leadership activity, so

these have to begin from the top. Some of the key

action areas and their major components are:-

a. developing long-term and short-term objectives

for performance of output quality standards;

b. identifying ways to achieve those objectives;

c. measuring the effectiveness in achieving them;

d. process management, with emphasis on

maintenance of high quality services;

e. satisfaction of user and other stake holders.

Just as a blue print is needed to build a house, one

should have a blue print of how the organisation or

system will look once the quality inputs are made part

of the planning and operations. Apart from lowering

the cost and improving the quality of operations

working to meet the needs of the people they serve,

quality is something that the leaders have to drive

from the front. It should run through the entire fabric

of the organization. Quality is maintained and

improved when leaders, managers and workforce

understand and commit to users' satisfaction through

continuous quality improvement. It follows a cyclical

process of plan, do, check and act.

Any plan to implement a policy to improve quality is

done by putting the plan into action in a pilot phase

and check if the plan works. Finally, the objective is

either to stabilize the improvement that has occurred

or to determine what went wrong, if gains as planned

for did not materialize. It is a continuous cycle. Once

one round is completed, it becomes the baseline for

the next round. It is a never ending process.

Thus, there is clear scope for reducing the timeline of various notified services in MP. AIGGPA has suggested

reduction in timeline in the following services:

The state government is trying to increase the

number of services under the Act in a phased manner.

On the basis of the study, the Institute has

recommended 78 new services, (covered in other

states) on priority basis, for inclusion under the Act.

Though MP was the first state to enact the Right to

Service Act in the country, the study shows that some

of the states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi,

Punjab, Odisha have taken the lead in bring more and

more services under the Act. Karnataka has brought

all the important citizen services under the Act.

While delivering citizen services, one may keep in

mind the famous statement of Mahatma Gandhi (In a

speech in South Africa in 1890)-

"A customer is the most important visitor on our premises.

He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.

He is not an interruption of our work; he is the purpose of it.

He is not an outsider of our business; he is part of it.

We are not doing him a favour by serving him.

He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so”

References: 1. UNDP Report on National Consultation on Strengthening

Delivery and Accountability Frameworks for Public Services, 8-9 December 2011, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

2. Report of Centre for Organization Development, Hyderabad.3. Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy Research, Dharam

Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.4. Official website of various State Governments.

Viewpoint

Quality - Let out Work Speak about It

Quality is one of the important cornerstones of any

organization. It is not an isolated activity but made up

of several components at various levels. Looking at

the way public services are growing world over, it is

essential that leaders should have an eye on quality.

To give it a permanent basis, some organizations have

developed manuals or hand books to constantly assist

and guide its employees.

Quality can be defined as anything that enhances a

product or service from the point of view of the

customers or users or the community at large. Public

administrators generally have to deal with issues that

are relevant to the community at large. To illustrate

the point, there can be:

1. guide to quality improvement for medical

services system;

2. quality manual for construction of rural roads;

3. manual for quality improvement in school

education.

These manuals can help in monitoring and improving

quality in various systems. Quality improvement is a

continuous process in all areas of public

administration and none can ever say that you had

enough of it.

Components of quality and what is expected out of

particular services need to be defined for each

department. These manuals provide a useful guide

for quality improvement within the organization. This

also encourages the leaders to integrate continuous

quality improvement practices into its operation so

that over a period of time, these become part of the

normal routine. These manuals are very important

documents and should be developed by professionals

in consultation with persons who would be using

these.

While the specific activities may differ depending

upon the nature of the organization- local, regional or

state-wise, the developmental stages can be:-

1. developing an awareness and appreciation that

quality improvement is a worth-while endeavor;

2. expanding workforce knowledge and capabilities

in quality improvement practices;

3. integrating quality processes into daily

operations.

Quality interventions are a leadership activity, so

these have to begin from the top. Some of the key

action areas and their major components are:-

a. developing long-term and short-term objectives

for performance of output quality standards;

b. identifying ways to achieve those objectives;

c. measuring the effectiveness in achieving them;

d. process management, with emphasis on

maintenance of high quality services;

e. satisfaction of user and other stake holders.

Just as a blue print is needed to build a house, one

should have a blue print of how the organisation or

system will look once the quality inputs are made part

of the planning and operations. Apart from lowering

the cost and improving the quality of operations

working to meet the needs of the people they serve,

quality is something that the leaders have to drive

from the front. It should run through the entire fabric

of the organization. Quality is maintained and

improved when leaders, managers and workforce

understand and commit to users' satisfaction through

continuous quality improvement. It follows a cyclical

process of plan, do, check and act.

Any plan to implement a policy to improve quality is

done by putting the plan into action in a pilot phase

and check if the plan works. Finally, the objective is

either to stabilize the improvement that has occurred

or to determine what went wrong, if gains as planned

for did not materialize. It is a continuous cycle. Once

one round is completed, it becomes the baseline for

the next round. It is a never ending process.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance & Policy Analysis(ISO 9001:2008)

(An autonomous institution of Government of Madhya Pradesh)

Sushasan Bhavan, Bhadbhada Square, T.T. Nagar,Bhopal (M.P.)-462003Tel : +91-755-2777316, 2777317, 2777308, 2770765, 2770695, 2770538, 2770761, Fax : +91-755-2777316

Web: www.aiggpa.mp.gov.in Email: aiggpa@mp.gov.in

Editorial BoardEditor: Akhilesh Argal

Associate Editor : Dr. Indrani Barpujari Production & Commerce Manager : Amitabh Shrivastava

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems.

- M.K. Gandhi

Published By

In the public sector and in the bureaucracy,

particularly the secretariat part of it, quality is not an

aspect much talked about. It is presumed that every

employee knows that he has to give quality results. It

is not necessary that the employees have the same

perception about quality as the organization has. On

the job training on quality can be very useful in filling

this gap. It does not develop in isolation and it is

essential that the office team is sensitized about what

aspects of quality we are talking about and what end

results it is going to give to the end users and the

organization as a whole. Specific short training can be

very useful in bridging this gap.

M.M. UpadhyayPrincipal Advisor

Centre for Social Sector Development