INTRODUCING CITIZEN CHARTER IN MUNICIPALITIES IN NEPAL: DOES IT MATTER TO IMPROVE SERVICE DELIVERY Ministry of General Administration Government of Nepal Kathmandu, NEPAL
1. Background Citizen s charter is taken as one of the recent administrative innovations to improve the service delivery system. It focuses on the stakeholder approach and ensuring transparency for efficient and effective service delivery.
Issues Do the municipalities improve the service provision after introduction of citizen charter? Are people satisfied with local service provision? Do they register any marked improvement after the introduction of citizen charter? Are there any best practices observed in the implementation of CC?
2. Methodology Questionnaire survey conducted in ten municipalities out of 58 municipalites. Total respondents 1,156 (988 citizen (beneficiaries) and 168 municipal employees.
Sample municipalities Total no. of municipalities 58; Sample municipalities 10 Kathmandu Capital of Nepal Sample municipality Ilam Biratnagar Lahan Janakpur Dhulikhel Kathmandu Pokhara Butwal Surkhet Mahendranagar
Characteristics of sample (citizens) Sex Characteristics of Respondents (citizen) Number % Male 688 71 Female 285 29 Education Illiterate 78 7.9 literate 180 18.3 School Level 313 31.8 Higher Secondary 193 19.6 Graduate and above 220 22.4 Occupation Working 267 27.4 Self Employed 290 29.7 Unemployed 112 11.5 Retired 65 6.7 Student 134 13.7 House Wife 108 11.1 Source: Field Survey, 2008
Characteristics of sample (municipal Employees) Holding of current position Number % Mukhiya or equivalent 14 8.4 Kharidar or equivalent 50 30.1 Nasu or equivalent 56 33.7 Section Officer or equivalent 42 25.3 Under Secretary or equivalent 2 1.2 Joint Secretary or equivalent 2 1.2 Work Experience of the sample employees in concerned municipality Total 166 100.0 Below 5 year 25 15.4 6-10 yrs 63 38.9 11-15 yrs 34 21.0 16-20 yrs 19 11.7 Above 21 yrs 21 13.0 Total 162 100.0
Local governance in Nepal Central Government: District level LAs: DDC: 75 - Municipality (58) /VDC (3915)
Citizen Charter in Nepal Civil Service Act, 1993: Article 54 ga specifies the bottom lines to meet while coming across service seekers Guideline for Making Effective the Governmental Services, 1998 display of service details publicly that are available supposedly to deliver to service seekers; fixation of mode of complain, if not fulfilled the promises; recognition of public officials who perform extraordinarily in service delivery; and arrangement of institutional mechanisms for execution, monitoring & evaluation of the charters. 'Governance (Management and Operation) Act, 2005: arranging public a list of services and also a list of responsible focal personnel to contact to by service seekers; making public procedures, time, cost and other essential conditions to be followed by service seekers while applying for services; giving reasons to service seekers, if not delivered any expected services; and managing a few provisions about compensation against cases failed to meet promises made.
Citizen Charters in the Municipalities of Nepal since 2004/5
KMC W#16 Secretary signing in a file to provide service
Citizen s perception toward municipality employees (N = 950-969) Perception (in %) Prompt and efficient 72 Friendly 67 Helpful 60 Serve their personal interest 58 Treat all equally 54 Corrupt 34 Source: Field survey 2008
Perception of Citizen towards the delivery of services (N = 906-919) Clientele groups Citizen s opinion (%) Service provider themselves 55 Rich and well off 55 Citizen in general 52 People of special area 51 Some interest groups 47 Some ethnic groups 36 Poor and have nots 22 Source: Field survey 2008
remarks towards the usefulness of citizen charter Citizen s remarks No. (%) Quite useful 229 31 Litle useful 218 30 Never get the service 157 21 Very useful 136 18 Total 740 100 Source: Field survey 2008
Time dimension of municipal services (citizens perception) Time for service delivery Number (%) A little longer than stipulated 507 53 As stipulated in charter 203 21 Too long time 246 26 Total 956 100 Source: Field survey 2008
Implementation of Citizen Charter (Employees knowledge on citizen charter) Level of knowledge Number (%) Clearly knowhow 76 46 Partly knowhow 42 26 Quite knowhow 39 24 Not known 6 4 Total 163 100 Source: Field survey 2008
Opinion of people after introducing the CC in the respective municipalities (Beneficiaries) Figure in percent Disagr ee Agree Don't know N Citizens understanding have become more clear 11 59 30.4 921 Provided adequate information 18 60 22.6 916 Awareness to their right has increased 10 69 20.5 904 Service provisions have become more punctual 23 59 18.7 902 More citizens have access to services 14 64 22.7 913 Citizens have excess to more services 15 62 23.6 898 Citizen's access to officials have become easier 17 62 20.5 906 Citizen's confidence have increased 16 67 17.1 913 Responsiveness to citizen's needs has increased 15 65 20.4 904 Citizens pay more charges than before 19 61 20.1 915
Opinion contd. Figure in percent Disagree Agree Don't know N Charter promises lot but difficult to implement 17 57 25.6 919 All is show off 33 40 27.2 915 Some middle man run the services 28 50 22.1 906 Very hopeful about the changes brought by charter I should also have a say what contents to be included I feel optimistic about quality of services after introduction of charter 13 68 19.1 909 9 72 19.4 906 10 70 20.3 913 My trust on municipality has increased 14 72 13.3 915
Quality of after the implementation of Citizen Charter Figure in percent Deteriorat ed Neither improved nor deteriorated Improv ed Don't know N Garbage removal 17 23.3 55 4.7 966 Maintenance and construction 19 23.9 53 4.4 964 of roads Vital registrations 3 21.8 64 10.9 959 Sewage and local sanitation 19 24.7 52 4.9 955 Maintenance of culverts/bridges 17 23.9 49 9.4 944 Allowances for senior citizens 3 17.6 68 11.3 951 Recommendations 3 18.0 66 13.2 955 Relation Certification 2 18.2 68 12.2 960 Permission for building construction 6 20.3 59 14.2 965
Employee s remarks on application of Citizen's Charter? Disagree Agree Don't Know N Just follow supervisor's direction 51 44 5.4 149 Too ambitious 40 56 3.9 155 Practices will take shape in passage of time 17 80 3.1 161 Insufficient budget 30 66 3.7 163 Insufficient resources 24 73 3.1 161 Sort of 21 77 1.9 159
Employee s remarks on the role of different responsible persons to implement citizen charter Actors Number (Response %) Leadership 156 90 Political leaders 155 88 Colleague at work 150 85 People/beneficiaries 149 82 Myself first 160 79 Source: Field Survey 2008
Employee s agreement or disagreement with the following statements Disagree Agree Don't Know Total Useless 79 21-166 This is all gimmick 65 33 1.3 159 Hopeful that it will bring change 13 87-164 I should have a say in what is included in charter 20 77 2.5 162 I feel honoured as i see it 18 80 2.5 161 Best instrument to bring people closer We can become role model in service delivery To ensure proper compliance, need to introduce reward and action Adequate compensation to implementers are necessary 13 86 1.2 163 16 82 1.8 165 17 82 1.2 164 19 79 1.8 165
Implementation of CC need (priority given as 1 st, 2 nd, and the 3 rd by the employees) Need for First Priority Second Priority Third Priority Reorientation training 50.3 17.0 16.3 153 Good Leadership 33.1 23.6 29.3 157 Better Salary and allowances 23.6 9.0 6.3 144 Delegation of authority 9.9 13.8 20.4 152 Logistic Supports 7.1 28.6 21.4 168 other 1.3 5.3 6.7 75 N
Best practices of the citizen charter benchmarking the municipal services, time management, customer satisfaction, and awareness building among service receivers about right to services.
Conclusion Improvement in performance capacity for the service delivery at local level 1. improvement in service provision 2. increased work productivity 3. reduced waiting time for services 4. improvement in the treatment of customers by staff, and 5. Sensitization of service provider and the service receiver
Some issues how to make CC as sustained and built-in in the regular service mechanism, how to introduce change orientation, how to make it replicable, how to produce quantifiable and quality results, and how to make customer friendly
If any queries Thank you