Public Administration (SYBA-PAPER-III):Comptroller and Auditor General of India

Introduction

As the most important instrument of accountability, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has a dual role to perform as an agency to function on behalf of the Legislature to ensure that the executive complies with the various laws passed by the Legislature in letter and spirit, and secondly, on behalf of the Executive to ensure compliance by subordinate authorities with the rules and orders issued by it. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, as the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, is thus neither a part of the Legislature nor the Executive but is an officer created by the Constitution to see that diverse authorities act in regard to all financial matters in accordance with the Constitution and the laws and rules framed there under.

Independence

There are several provisions enshrined in the Constitution to safeguard his independent function. These are:

• He is appointed by the President of India by warrant under his hand and seal and his oath of office requires him to uphold the Constitution of India and laws made there under.
• He shall hold office for a term of six years from the date on which he assumes such office, provided that where he attains the age of 65 years before the expiry of the said term of six years, he shall vacate such office on the date on which he attains the said age and that he may, at any time, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office.
• He can be removed from office only on grounds of proven misbehavior or incapacity after an address by both the Houses of Parliament supported by a two thirds majority.
• His salary and conditions of service can not be varied to his disadvantage after appointment.
• He shall not be eligible for further office under the Government of India or of any State after retirement.
• His administrative powers and the conditions of service of persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department shall be prescribed by rules made by the President only after consulting him.
• The administrative expenses of his office are charged upon the Consolidated Fund of India and are not subject to being voted by Parliament.

The legal basis for the auditorial functions of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India is provided by the Comptroller and Auditor General's (Duties, Powers, and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971. Although India has a federal set up, the Constitution provides for a unitary audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, who conducts audit of the accounts of both the Union and the State Governments.

urisdiction

The organizations subject to audit of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India are:

• All the Union and State Government departments, including departmental commercial undertakings such as the Indian Railways, Posts and Telecommunications.
• Public commercial enterprises controlled by the Union and the State Governments- ie. Government companies and corporations.
• Non-commercial autonomous bodies and authorities owned or controlled by the Union or the States.
• Authorities and bodies substantially financed from Union or State Revenues.
• Companies where the equity participation by Government is 51 per cent or more.
• Any authority or body, not being a foreign state or international organisation, which get any grant or loan for any specific purpose from the Consolidated Fund of India or of any State or any Union territory having a Legislative Assembly.
• Audit of all receipts which are payable into the Consolidated Fund of India and each of State and each of Union territory having a Legislative Assembly.
• Audit of the Regulatory bodies such as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) and Insurance Regulatory Authority and Development Authority. However, role of audit of the Regulatory Authorities are at present confined only to the extent of certifications of their accounts as audit scrutiny over regulatory functions is still somewhat nebulous.

Powers

The powers and functions of the CAG of India are mentioned in Art 149 and 150 of the constitution. His main functions are:

            1) To inspect and investigate the accounts of Govt. expenditure and submit his report to the president.

            2)  To see that the sanction of the expenditure has been taken from the authority which is competent to give such sanction. (No amount can be taken from the consolidated fund of India without permission of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.)

            3) To see that the financial rules and regulations relating to governmental expenditure are being followed, and

            4) To bring to the notice of the Government extravagant and avoidable expenditure. Thus, the comptroller and Auditor general of India exercise sufficient control over expenditure to ensure that all the govt. expenditures are incurred in proper and correct manner. In order to ensure that he is able to perform his functions impartially and fearlessly, it is provided in the constitution that the same procedure will have to be adopted for removing him from his office as provided the removal of the judge of the Supreme Court.

Under the Comptroller and Auditor General's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act 1971, he is empowered to:

• Make rules for carrying out the provisions relating to the maintenance of accounts.
• Make regulations for carrying out the provisions relating to the scope and extent of audit, including laying down for the guidance of the Government departments the general principles of Government accounting and the broad principles in regard to audit of receipts and expenditure.
• Requisitioning of all records of the auditee departments/organisations.
• Access the computer systems of the auditees and to download and use electronic data either in site or off site.
• review the development of computer systems of auditees and suggest/enforce controls
• The appointment of external auditors engaged by the auditees for meeting any statutory requirements but only with reference to Government companies.
• To supervise and regulate external auditors' work under the Indian Companies Act.
• dispense with, when circumstances so warrant, any part of detailed audit of any accounts or class of transactions and to apply such limited check in relation to such accounts or transactions as he may determine.

Audit Procedures and Functions

While fulfilling his constitutional obligations, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India conduct the following types of audit:

• Financial Audit
• Compliance Audit
• Performance Audit
• EDP Audit.

Further, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India undertake Special Audit at the request of the Government.

The Comptroller and Auditor is required to follow specific standards, practices and guidelines in conducting auditing and reporting. He can engage consultants and/or obtain professional services in conducting audit. He can also consult and collaborate with other countries/SAIs and International Organizations on matters relating to audit.

Apart from the certificates of the Appropriation and Finance accounts of the Union and of various States and submission of separate Audit reports on Statutory Corporations and other autonomous bodies for which he is the sole auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India brings out a large number of reports relating to the Union Government and the State Governments. These reports incorporate important audit findings and performance reviews of systems, projects and programmes and comprehensive appraisals of public enterprises and other bodies and authorities.

He also reports on acts that infringe upon State economic interest like mass embezzlement of State assets, serious losses and wastes. These reports are laid before the Parliament and State Legislatures concerned, every year. He can share his audit reports with public and media only after laying them in the Parliament and the State Legislatures. Some of these reports are selected by the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament and State Legislatures for detailed discussions and recommendations. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India assists the Public Accounts Committee by vetting the Action Taken Notes on these selected Reports.

(REF. http://www.intosaiitaudit.org/mandates/writeups/india.htm)

Public Administration (SYBA-PAPER-III):E-Governance

E-Governance

The advancement in information technology has a profound impact in countries economy, thus the quality of life. The convergence of computer, communications and contents creates tremendous opportunities as well as challenges. The IT revolution will be of much greater significance than the Industrial Revolution of 17^th century.

New public Management (NPM) approaches- ranging from triple- ‘D’, i.e., decentralization, disaggregation and downsizing to electronic delivery of public services are being tried by the public sector organizations (PSO’s) to cure the evils of misgovernance. It is in this context that the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in general and the ‘Internet’ in particular has emerged as a strategically handy tool to deliver them electronically.

The NPM seeks to make administration citizen focused and there is no doubt that technology enabled governance would not just be 24 hours, 7 hours, one stop public oriented but would also proved to  be Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent (SMART) governance.

First Good Governance and Thereafter e-Governance

—  Sincere Compliance of Existing laws, rules  and regulation will bring 40% improvements in the delivery of Citizen Services

—  Rationalization and simplification of existing laws, rules  and regulation will bring another 20% improvements

—  Remaining 40% improvements could be facilitated by the use of Information Technology

What is e-Government?

—  An alternative way of delivering services utilizing information technology.

—  E-Government should be used to enhance service delivery NOT replace it.

—  E-Government is enabled with three elements – people, processes and technology.

E-governance refers to the use of Information and communication technologies (ICT), such as the Internet, Wide Area Network, mobile phones etc., to deliver services to citizens that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses and other arms of Government.

Why do we need e-Government?

—  E-Government creates opportunity.

—  Efficient information distribution (self-serve)

—  Reduced costs

—  Potential for greater transparency

—  Collaboration and sharing with other governments

—  E-Governance is now mainly seen as a key element of the country’s governance and administrative reform agenda. The Government of India aspires to provide:

—  Governance that is easily understood by and accountable to the citizens, open to democratic involvement and scrutiny (an open and transparent government)

—  Citizen-centric governance that will cover all of its services and respect everyone as individuals by providing personalised services.

—  An effective government that delivers maximum value for taxpayers’ money (quick and efficient services)

Hence the Government of India views e-Governance as a vehicle to initiate and sustain reforms by focusing on three broad areas:

Governance

—  Transparency

—  People’s participation

—  Promotion of a democratic society

Public services

—  Efficient, cost-effective and responsive governance

—  Convenient services to citizens and businesses

—  Greater citizen access to public information

—  Accountability in delivery of services to citizens

Management

—  Simplicity, efficiency and accountability

—  Managing voluminous information and data effectively

—  Information services

—  Swift and secure communication

—  Indicated below are some of the key initiatives taken in the country across some of the important citizen/business related departments1:

Stages of e-Governance

It is evident that e-Governance is intrinsically linked with the development of computer technology, networking of computers and communication systems. In developing countries, such technologies and systems became available with a perceptible time lag as compared to developed nations. However, in the case of India, with the liberalization of the economy from the early 1990s onwards, there has been a convergence in the availability of cutting edge technologies and opportunities in the field of e-Governance. Generally speaking, the Indian experience demonstrates that the onset of e-Governance proceeded through the following phases:

(a) Computerization: In the first phase, with the availability of personal computers, a large number of Government offices got equipped with computers. The use of computers began with word processing, quickly followed by data processing.

(b) Networking: In this phase, some units of a few government organizations got connected through a hub leading to sharing of information and flow of data between different government entities.

(c) On-line presence: With increasing internet connectivity, a need was felt for maintaining a presence on the web. This resulted in maintenance of websites by government departments and other entities. Generally, these web-pages/web-sites contained information about the organizational structure, contact details, reports and publications, objectives and vision statements of the respective government entities. On-line interactivity: A natural consequence of on-line presence was opening up of communication channels between government entities and the citizens, civil society organizations etc. The main aim at this stage was to minimize the scope of personal interface with government entities by providing downloadable Forms, Instructions, Acts, Rules etc. In some cases, this has already led to on-line submission of Forms. Most citizen-government transactions have the potential of being put on e-Governance mode.

Types of Interactions in e-Governance

E-Governance facilitates interaction between different stake holders in governance. These interactions may be described as follows:

G2G (Government to Government) – In this case, Information and communications Technology is used not only to restructure the governmental processes involved in the functioning of government entities but also to increase the flow of information and services within and between different entities. This kind of interaction is only within the sphere of government and can be both horizontal i.e. between different government agencies as well as between different functional areas within an organisation, or vertical i.e. between national, provincial and local government agencies as well as between different levels within an organisation. The primary objective is to increase efficiency, performance and output.

G2C (Government to Citizens) – In this case, an interface is created between the government and citizens which enables the citizens to benefit from efficient delivery of a large range of public services. This expands the availability and accessibility of public services on the one hand and improves the quality of services on the other. It gives citizens the choice of when to interact with the government (e.g. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week), from where to interact with the government (e.g. service centre, unattended kiosk or from one’s home/workplace) and how to interact with the government (e.g. through internet, fax, telephone, email, face-to-face, etc). The primary purpose is to make government, citizen-friendly.

G2B (Government to Business) – Here, e-Governance tools are used to aid the business community – providers of goods and services – to seamlessly interact with the government. The objective is to cut red tape, save time, reduce operational costs and to create a more transparent business environment when dealing with the government. The G2b initiatives can be transactional, such as in licensing, permits, procurement and revenue collection. They can also be promotional and facilitative, such as in trade, tourism and investment. These measures help to provide a congenial environment to businesses to enable them to perform more efficiently.

G2E (Government to Employees) – Government is by far the biggest employer and like any organisation, it has to interact with its employees on a regular basis. This interaction is a two-way process between the organisation and the employee. Use of IcT tools helps in making these interactions fast and efficient on the one hand and increase satisfaction levels of employees on the other.

National E-Governance Plan

The Government of India kick started the use of IT in the government in the right earnest by launching number of initiatives. First the Government approved the National E-Governance Action plan for implementation during the year 2003-2007. The plan is an attempt to lay the foundation and provide impetus for long-term growth of e-governance within the country. It proposed to create the right governance and institutional mechanisms at the center, state and local levels to provide a citizen centric and business centric environment for governance.

NeGP is a comprehensive “programme” of the Government of India and is designed to leverage capabilities and opportunities presented by ICT to promote good governance across the country.

One of the learning that is at the core of the NeGP is the emphasis on implementation of such projects with clear timelines and responsibility allocations – in a “Mission Mode”.

The Plan initially extends over a 4-year period at an estimated cost of over USD 3 billion. NeGP is aimed at introducing e-Governance systematically through 25 Mission Mode projects, which would touch the lives of more than 1 billion people.

The focus of the plan includes the following sectors/projects:

Agriculture:

E-governance projects in the agricultural sector can provide benefit to farmers and the rural people and also enhance the lives of urban poor. There are numerous sub-projects pertaining to provision of timely expert advice to farmers, food security, marketability and commercial information relating to agricultural products, enhancing crop productivity, enhancing the reach of and ease of access to micro-credit, etc.

Municipalities:

The coordinating agency is the Ministry of Urban Development. The main programs relevant to vulnerable and marginalized groups are registration of births and deaths, grievances and suggestions, health programs, etc.

Gram Panchayats (elected village administration):

The important programmes being implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development for poverty reduction are employment generation, provision of basic services, infrastructure development etc.

Common Service Centre’s (CSCs) is one of the integrated projects envisioned in NeGP. The CSCs provide assisted community access points – a necessity in a country with relatively low levels of literacy and ICT penetration in rural areas. These centres are very effective in providing multiple services provided by different departments at a single location. Under this program, it is aimed to establish 100,000 CSCs predominantly in the rural areas to serve the needs of the traditionally underserved areas.

Core Infrastructure such as State Wide Area Networks, Data Centres, Gateways, etc. forms another critical element of the NeGP. Approximately 15% of the total program outlay is earmarked for common core and support infrastructure that is shared across projects, excluding the cost of infrastructure that is created specific to, and as a part of, individual projects.

Urban Utilities:

Development of an online integrated information and monitoring system for delivery, accounting, compliance and payment for services- like water supply, electricity, telephones etc.

Compliance and payment of Taxes:

Payment of taxes and duties of all kinds electronically, filing of returns on account of income tax, sales tax, house tax etc.

Filling of Complaints:

FIR against any violation of law, complaint to police can be lodged electronically

Citizen centricity attributes –

Ø  Reduction of visits to government offices –

It is very annoying to have to meet several officials for a task that actually takes perhaps just 5 minutes. Sometimes this also entails a number of visits that a citizen has to make to an office.

Ø  User friendliness –

The service provider should have sufficient knowledge or access to it to answer the queries of the common user. The familiarity of the service provider with the services applicable to different user groups becomes an important element in faster and hassle-free service delivery.

E-Governance affords an excellent opportunity for India to radically improve the quality of governance and thereby:

—  Allow for two-way communication between government and citizens not only for service delivery but also to receive opinions of citizens on policies and government performance

—  Provide greater access to excluded groups, who have few opportunities to interact with government and benefit from its services and schemes

—  Include all sections of the society in the mainstream of development

—  Enabling rural and traditionally marginalized segments of the population to gain fast and convenient access to services in their own neighborhoods.

E- Governance in India:

Customs and Excise (Government of India)

—   98% of export and 90-95% of import documentation computerized

—   Electronic filing through ICEGATE at 3 locations (Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai)

—   80% of Service Tax returns electronically processed

Indian Railways (Government of India)

—  Anywhere to Anywhere reservation from Anywhere

—  Electronic Booking of tickets on select sectors

—  Online Information on Railway reservation on Internet

Postal Department (Government of India)

—  Direct e-credit of Monthly Income Scheme returns into the investors accounts

—  Dematerialization of Savings Certificate (NSC) and Vikas Patras (KVP), offering full portability

Passport / Visa (Government of India)

—  100% passport information computerized

—  All 33 Regional Passport Offices covered

—  Machine readable passports at some locations

Benefits of e-Governance

In the end, e-Governance is about reform in governance, facilitated by the creative use of Information and communications Technology. It is expected that this would lead to:

i. Better access to information and quality services for citizens: IcT would make available timely and reliable information on various aspects of governance. In the initial phase, information would be made available with respect to simple aspects of governance such as forms, laws, rules, procedures etc later extending to detailed information including reports (including performance reports), public database, decision making processes etc. As regards services, there would be an immediate impact in terms of savings in time, effort and money, resulting from online and one-point accessibility of public services backed up by automation of back end processes. The ultimate objective of e-Governance is to reach out to citizens by adopting a life-cycle approach i.e. providing public services to citizens which would be required right from birth to death.

ii. Simplicity, efficiency and accountability in the government: Application of IcT to governance combined with detailed business process reengineering would lead to simplification of complicated processes, weeding out of redundant processes, simplification in structures and changes in statutes and regulations. The end result would be simplification of the functioning of government, enhanced decision making abilities and increased efficiency across government – all contributing to an overall environment of a more accountable government machinery. This, in turn, would result in enhanced productivity and efficiency in all sectors. Expanded reach of governance: Rapid growth of communications technology and its adoption in governance would help in bringing government machinery to the doorsteps of the citizens. Expansion of telephone network, rapid strides in mobile telephony, spread of internet and strengthening of other communications infrastructure would facilitate delivery of a large number of services provided by the government. This enhancement of the reach of government – both spatial and demographic – would also enable better participation of citizens in the process of governance.

The introduction of Information Technology in the governance process has brought about a revolution in the quality of service delivered to its citizens. It has ushered in:

(i) Transparency in the governing process;

(ii) Saving of time and cost due to provision of services to the citizens through single window;

(iii) Better decision making;

(iv) simplified office procedures;

(v) Checking corruption; and

(vi) Better office and record management.

E-Governance – Key Challenges

—  Clarity in objective setting: 

Project approval and funding of projects through multiple departmental budgets lead to wide variations in the approach to project objective setting, without a clear focus on outcomes or on building sustainable services. The service needs of citizens/ businesses and those of other departments are often either overlooked or accorded lower priority in relation to internal needs.

—  Ensuring service delivery:

E-governance projects have primarily focused on internal process automation and generally are hardware and infrastructure driven (sometimes even vendor driven) with little focus on citizen service delivery or outcomes.

—  Need for Government Process Reengineering:

Computerization of inefficient processes can lead to higher rather than lower levels of inefficiency and spiralling cost. Hence, it is essential to undertake process re-engineering as an integral part of e-governance project implementation in order to ensure increased efficiency and reduced costs.

—  Standardization:

Departmental approach and absence of a national framework for common standards has resulted in adoption of different technical standards and varied architectures. This has significant implications for designing effective integrated applications and also entails long-term costs and sub-optimal results.

—  Independent Impact Assessment:

In the current system, there is no requirement or institutional mechanism for an independent assessment of projects post-implementation to determine whether they have achieved the set objectives, except in purely financial terms. Further, very few projects have formal performance metrics defined at the start of the project to measure outcomes.

—  Localisation:

ICT solutions were mostly developed with an English Language interface. However, in India a vast majority (95%) of the citizens do not know English and use the local language. The fact is that India has 22 official languages; for success of e-Governance, this reality needs to be reflected in the implementation strategy.

—  Internal Capacity/Project Management Expertise:

Departments/ states have limited access to any institutional mechanisms for building capacities in the areas of e-governance project development and design, bid process management, professional project management, development of Contractual Frameworks, Service Level Agreements, etc. T

Public Administration (SYBA-PAPER-III) Public Participation

Administration and Public

            Administration and public are inseparable entities. The administration is meant for the public. The public administration is the instrument of governance and the success or failure of a modern welfare state and its government is related with the performance of the administration. It is an instrument to realize the ideals enshrined in the constitution and aspirations of the people reflected in the laws enacted by the representative institutions. Harmonization of ‘public’ and ‘administration’ is a key issue present in every modern state or well - being of the public depends on the ‘administration’ and the success or failure of ‘administration’ depends on the trust, confidence, co-operation and initiative of the ‘public’. Any dis-harmony in this regard could be disastrous for both, the ‘public’ as well as ‘administration.’

People’s perception of administration

            In order to cope up with the problem of active participation of public in the process of development the Indian administration must know what public attitude towards administration is.

            The administration Reform commission’s findings on public view of administration are as follows

            a)         Unhelpful attitude on the part of the officials

            b)         Inordinate delays in transacting government business.

            c)         Corruption among the officials.

            d)         Non availability of essential commodities.

e)         Lack of proper attention from the government agencies in providing services to the common man-as for example, government hospitals.

            f)         Favoritism and nepotism in dealing with the general public.

            g)         Unsatisfactory progress of the community development programme.

            h)         Public-dissatisfaction with the Panchayat Raj institutions and

            i)          Inefficient machinery for redress of public grievances at the district level.

Administrative Attitude Towards people:

            The Indian bureaucracy is, by and large, urban-middle class. While performing their duties, they mainly deal with the rural masses who are illiterate and poor. Thus, there is a wide cultural gap between the class of administration and the vast majority of masses.

            The bureaucracy points out that the people are unaware of their rights have no understanding of the problems and make no efforts to get their grievances redressed. They do not have adequate knowledge of the rules, regulations and procedure of administration. People are pessimistic about the assistance from the bureaucracy in getting the things done. There is too much interference in the administration and that the citizens try to bring pressure through politicians.

            People hardly support or co-operate with the civil servants who honestly try to bring about the change in the society.

            Further the citizens deliberately deviate from the sanctioned plans. Thus, tempts the civil servants to overlook and violate the rules and regulations, to ignore and convince at the provisions of law.

People’s participation

People’s participation is self-evident in democratic governance. People’s participation in the administrative process is very basic to its success. It is necessary that participation must be more than symbolic if popular energies are to be harnessed into the development process and id sustaining institutions are to be created to give development coherence and meaning.

In the context of ‘development’ efforts of the ‘Third World’ countries, participation has assumed added significance, as the rich experience gained through decades of development convincingly proved that ‘participation’ is the key to meaningful and authentic people-centric development. Current upsurge in ‘participatory governance’ is, however, a more generic concern related to ‘good governance’ paradigm.

            The institutionalization of participation by all people is a cornerstone of good governance. Participatory governance provides citizens with access not only to information but also to decision making power. Participatory governance provides citizens with access not only to information but also to decision making power. Participatory governance entails the close involvement of people in the economic, political, cultural and social process that affect them and facilitates access towards people-centered development.

Meaning of People’s Participation:

            Participation is generally referred to when common people play a role in the activities of the government. Mumtaz defines it as all forms of actions by which citizens ‘take part’ in the operation of administration. The ‘taking part’ may be of any type e.g., advisory or in decision making or in implementation etc. Public may participate through governmental or voluntary bodies.

            People’s participation in administration means collective and continuous efforts by people themselves in setting goals, pooling resources together and taking actions which aim at improving their living conditions.

            Accordingly, participatory governance means a convergence of social and political participation and the scaling up of participatory methods, state-civil-society partnerships, decentralization and devolution, participatory assessment and other factors. (The Sixth Forum on Reinventing Government held in Seoul (South Korea)

            Participation in generic sense has been conceptualized in terms of citizenship; it is a ‘right’ on its own strength. With such extended meaning of participation beyond traditional voting and political rights, there is a serious search going on in all democratic countries for more participatory approaches to processes of democratic governance.

Modes of People’s Participation in administration:

            Professor S.N. Mishra has classifies the means of people’s participation in administration into four categories:

1.      Participation in Decision Making:

This mode of participation involves generation of idea’s, formulation and assessment of options and making choices- about them, as well as the formulation of plans for putting selected options into effect.

2.      Participation in implementation:

In this, people participate in implementation of projects through resource contributions, administration and co-ordinate efforts and programme enlistment activities.

3.      Participation in sharing of benefits:

In this, people participate in project generated benefits which could be material, social or personal.

4.      Participation in monitoring and education:

This is rural people’s participation in project evaluation, either directly or indirectly, through political activities or lobbying activities or through or through some co-operative organization.

The major objective of participation is to involve people in planning, project formulation, implementation, monitoring and review of local level development initiatives.

            On the other hand, when people involved, they take direct initiative for the operation, maintenance and repair of a facility, which benefits them. Thus participation leads to the building of beneficiary capability. Again, participation means sharing of information not just about needs and deficiencies but also about possible means of solution.

Benefits of Participation:

§  In the planning and programming stages and throughout the implementation of development projects, the participatory process provides important information, ensuring thereby a congruence between objectives of development and community values and preferences.

§  By rationalizing manpower resources utilization, the process is likely to reduce project cost.

§  Any change brought about through development will be acceptable to the community if the local people are involved in setting the stage for change, and mistakes are more tolerable if these are made by people who have to live with them.

§  Monitoring is better, and sustainability of the project is more likely even after withdrawal of the external agent, be it government or NGO agency. Field experience tells us that when people have a direct stake in the provision of their service, they fix things or call attention to them when there is any malfunctioning.

§  Participation is two way learning process in which both administrator and the people become co-learners.

§  Active participation helps rebuild community cohesion and installs a sense of dignity into the community.

§  Active community participation helps rebuild community cohesion and installs a sense of dignity into the community.

Institutionalization of participation is often advocated to enlist community development in local development projects on a regular basis. Local government and decentralization are the common recipes in this context. Panchayat raj in India was recommended in 1957 on the ground that sustainability and meaningful local development would be possible only by the creation of a system of decentralized, participative local government.