GOVERNANCE | outsourcingOutsourcing municipal functions will bypass the corrupt corporator and improve civic governance
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by MAJOR GENERAL MRINAL SUMAN
by MAJOR GENERAL MRINAL SUMAN
MY mother is 88 years old, perfectly alert and, having been born and brought up in Lahore, always reminisces about “the good old days”. Recently, after watching a TV news round-up on a particularly bad and depressing day, she made an extraordinary suggestion: “Our leaders have failed miserably. We should outsource governance to competent foreign or Indian entities on contractual basis. I am not suggesting foreign rule. We should simply outsource governance.” The proposition, even if made in jest, reflects the degree of disgust and disenchantment among the people of India. There is no doubt that the political leadership has let the nation down.
People tend to confuse outsourcing and privatization. Privatization entails transfer of property, facilities, services and responsibility from government to a private sector entity. Outsourcing does not involve any such transfer. The functioning of service providers is governed by the provisions of a contract that contains a defined and calibrated system of incentives and penalties.
Profile of a municipal corporator
Amunicipal corporator is the cause and catalyst of every single ill that afflicts Indian cities. He is a fountainhead of corruption. His sole aim is to amass as much wealth in as short a period as possible. He encourages encroachment on government land to create his vote bank through provision of protection to unauthorized settlements. The proliferation of slums in all cities can be attributed to his political facilitation. He takes money from illegal shops and vendors to save them from eviction. No development work can proceed in a ward unless the local corporator has been suitably rewarded. The collusion of corporator and contractor ensures swelling of their coffers at the cost of development work.
As corporators control local vote banks, they are much sought after by political leaders at State and Central levels. An unholy nexus thus develops wherein the political leader provides protection and patronage to the local corporator for all his illegal activities. In return, the corporator assures vital votes to the political leader.
Amunicipal corporator is the cause and catalyst of every single ill that afflicts Indian cities. He is a fountainhead of corruption. His sole aim is to amass as much wealth in as short a period as possible. He encourages encroachment on government land to create his vote bank through provision of protection to unauthorized settlements. The proliferation of slums in all cities can be attributed to his political facilitation. He takes money from illegal shops and vendors to save them from eviction. No development work can proceed in a ward unless the local corporator has been suitably rewarded. The collusion of corporator and contractor ensures swelling of their coffers at the cost of development work.
As corporators control local vote banks, they are much sought after by political leaders at State and Central levels. An unholy nexus thus develops wherein the political leader provides protection and patronage to the local corporator for all his illegal activities. In return, the corporator assures vital votes to the political leader.
India has a four-tier governance apparatus – Central government, State government, local self-governing body (commonly referred to as municipality), and village panchayat. Undoubtedly, governance at the Central and State levels cannot be outsourced due to the complexities of legislative and executive functions. Panchayats are meant exclusively for the general welfare of their respective villages. They have a limited charter and are based on the principles of local empowerment. Therefore their functioning can also not be outsourced. We are left with municipalities. Their sole mandate is to provide essential civic and infrastructural services to their respective towns. Municipal functions lend themselves ideally for outsourcing.
The Jamshedpur model
We have a successful and working model of outsourcing of municipal functions in Jamshedpur, where civic services are provided by a company and not a democratically elected municipal body. Since the establishment of Jamshedpur town in 1907, all municipal services were handled by the Town Services Division of Tata Steel. In 2004, Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company (Jusco) was carved out of the Town Services Division and has since provided a complete range of services to the town. In addition to normal municipal services, it oversees planning, engineering and construction-related issues.
The success of the Jusco model can be gauged from the fact that when the Jharkhand government sought public opinion, the people overwhelmingly voted against having a municipal corporation. Apparently, locals abhor the idea of politicians calling the shots. Jamshedpur is one of the cleanest and greenest cities in India, with efficient solid waste management and continuous supply of power and water. The Jusco model can be easily replicated in other towns. Once demand picks up, numerous other entrepreneurs would enter the field as comprehensive urban service providers, generating competition and improving modalities. As experience is gained, the complete spectrum of community services like water management (including water supply and rainwater harvesting), power distribution, municipal solid waste management, infrastructure, public health, horticulture services and town planning can be easily outsourced to carefully selected service providers with credible track records.
Advantages of outsourcing municipal functions
Reduction in corruption will be the single most important advantage. It is a well documented fact that only a fraction of development funds reaches the public and a substantial part is siphoned off at the local municipal level. During outsourcing, funds would be handled by the district administration and disbursed to service providers as per their performance under the contractual provisions.
Chapatti for Re 1 and plate of rice for Rs 2
THE political leaders of the country are not to blame if they are unaware of back-breaking inflation. There are reasons for their ignorance. One is the price at which they are served food in the Parliament House Canteen. If you get fish curry and rice for Rs 13 or chicken curry for Rs 20.50, you are bound to wonder why the people are agitating against a non-existent price rise. There’s more – a chapatti and a cup of tea cost Re 1 each while a plate of rice costs a princely Rs 2. For undemanding customers, a vegetarian platter consisting of a dal, a vegetable dish, four chapattis, pulao, curd and salad, is available for Rs 12.50. The irony of such precise pricing of food items – up to 50 paise – cannot be missed when, across the country, prices are rounded off to the nearest tenner.
Food subsidy is meant for underprivileged sections of society. To subsidize food for the most privileged among the elite of the country by taxing the poor is an affront to basic human values.
THE political leaders of the country are not to blame if they are unaware of back-breaking inflation. There are reasons for their ignorance. One is the price at which they are served food in the Parliament House Canteen. If you get fish curry and rice for Rs 13 or chicken curry for Rs 20.50, you are bound to wonder why the people are agitating against a non-existent price rise. There’s more – a chapatti and a cup of tea cost Re 1 each while a plate of rice costs a princely Rs 2. For undemanding customers, a vegetarian platter consisting of a dal, a vegetable dish, four chapattis, pulao, curd and salad, is available for Rs 12.50. The irony of such precise pricing of food items – up to 50 paise – cannot be missed when, across the country, prices are rounded off to the nearest tenner.
Food subsidy is meant for underprivileged sections of society. To subsidize food for the most privileged among the elite of the country by taxing the poor is an affront to basic human values.
Exclusion of corporators would save huge funds which otherwise get misappropriated by them. Further, the sizeable expenditure currently incurred on their allowances and perks would be saved. Encroachment on public land to create slums for captive vote-bank purposes would become very difficult as the clout of local politicians would get considerably reduced. Consequently, the existing nexus between political goons, the patrons and land mafia would lose its stranglehold.
Is outsourcing governance the panacea for all ills that afflict India’s body politic and is it a feasible proposal? It is a moot dilemma. Sceptics have reason to be wary. However, outsourcing merits a fair chance to prove itself on account of two persuasive facts. First, in the World Bank report on the Worldwide Governance Indicators of June 2009, out of 212 countries studied, 50 to 75 per cent have better governance grading than India. It implies that we are already so badly off that chances of further decline are remote. Thus, it is a safe bet to experiment with outsourcing.
Second, a wholly functional and decidedly successful Jusco model provides adequate testimony to the viability of outsourcing of municipal functions. However, as no two towns are similar, it is essential to evolve town-specific outsourcing models to cater for local conditions. Further, as a matter of caution, it will be prudent to proceed in a phased and graduated manner, expanding the scope of outsourced services as experience is gained.
