End line Survey Report October 2013 Milestone#57 Application #: CVP-03-12-95-362 Reference Number: CVP 040 RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF NATURAL RESOURCES OF PAKISTAN Web: www.rinp.org 1 | P a g e October 2013 Disclaimer: Citizens’ Voice Project is being implemented with support from the American People through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this report are the responsibility of Research Institute of Natural Resources of Pakistan and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the U.S. Government. 2 | P a g e List of Acronyms CVP Citizens’ Voice Project CEC Citizen’s Energy Council DISCO Distribution Company ESC Energy Steering Committee LESCO Lahore Electric Supply Company RINP Research Institute of Natural Resources of Pakistan USAID United State Agency for International Development 3 | P a g e Table of Contents A. SCOPE .................................................................................................................. 5 B. BACKGROUND: .................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. C. METHODOLOGY: ................................................................................................. 7 D. OUTCOMES/ANALYSIS………………………………………… . ……….……………8 E. RECOMMENDATIONS.…………………. ............................................................ 13 F. WAY FORWARD ....... ……………………………………………….…………………15 ANNEXURE – 1 QUESTIONNAIRE-CONSUMER………………………………………. 17 ANNEXURE – 2: QUESTIONNAIRE-OFFICIALS ......................................................... 25 ANNEXURE – 3- PARTICIPANTS LIST ........................................................................ 31 ANNEXURE – 4- PICTURE GALLERY ......................................................................... 37 4 | P a g e A. SCOPE This report documents and analyzes the results of the End-line Survey on “Creating Social Impacts of Electricity Sector Reforms in Lahore”. The overall objective of the project intervention was to improve the accountability mechanisms of LESCO (Utility Service Provider) by improving electricity load management, strengthening complaint redressal mechanism and also by improving the knowledge, attitudes & practices (KAP) of the community on appropriate use of electricity. This report aims to assess the impact of the Project intervention on LESCO Service Delivery, Citizens’ Rights & Accountability and Knowledge, Attitudes & Behaviors of the Community as a result of the advocacy & awareness campaigns run by “RINP Team”. (Answer Query #3) B. BACKGROUND The multidimensional ongoing energy crisis has been having a knock on the life of every Pakistani. Pakistan is in the grip of a serious energy crisis that is affecting all sectors of the economy and the various segments of the society. Even if we do not give importance to disruptive economic, social, moral, psychological behavior, we feel depressed to the core of our deepest identities and what is more dangerous is that our trust in the system, Nation and Country evaporates in the air, transforming us, the deprived citizens of this discriminatory country into irrational and psychotic creatures. Violent Public protests by the aggressive citizens can be seen across the country. In the light of the exacerbating energy crisis that the Country is facing today, the project intervention had been initiated by “RINP” whereby the aim was: To establish a mechanism for participation of citizens in grass-root planning and community representation in Federal/Provincial decision making as well as involvement of citizens with District/ Local government and energy sector officials to steer the delivery of improved quality of energy (Electricity) in terms of effective citizens’ oversight, enhanced administrative management and better aligned budgetary allocations based on need and priority basis. In order to explore the root causes of electricity crises and get a clearer picture of the prevailing situation in Lahore, “RINP Team” carried out an in-depth situational analysis using base line triangulation method. With the purpose of initiating a pilot project, the Team selected three towns of Lahore namely Ravi Town (low income group), Nishtar Town (Industrial group) and Iqbal Town (low-middle group) to serve as a sample case study. These groups represented all vibrant sectors of the society. Several Field visits, Field study meetings, Community Group Discussions, Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews were carried out where citizens discussed the importance of Electricity for National Development, Budding Electricity Crises in the Country, Impacts of rise in Electricity Crises on socio- economic environment, the role of International Community in Electricity Sector and Especially the role of USAID in enhancing better working relations between Citizens and State institutions on different aspects of the issue like power theft, legislation and complaint redressal mechanisms of utility service providers. 5 | P a g e Furthermore, it was pointed out that Governance has been exclusive of public interest due to the sector's entrenched complexity. It is necessary for the public to understand the issues and to become involved in decision-making processes. There should be a strong collaboration between civil society, policymakers, regulators and other concerned parties on a common platform, whereby good governance and sound decision making processes are encouraged at the policy level. Therefore, RINP took a collaborative approach to the development of Forums like Citizen Energy Councils (CECs) at union council level along with Energy Steering Committee (ESC) at town level to enable formation of successful partnerships for improving the provision of electricity. Followed by the Situation analysis & the formation of these committees a “Charter of Demand” had been articulated to provide direction for further actions to be taken to raise the voice of the community to the policy makers. This Citizens’ Charter of Demand had been formulated on the key results of baseline study, situational analysis, identification of potential members and in depth interviews with the concerned policy makers of electricity sector and the LESCO officials in three towns(Iqbal Town, Ravi Town and Nishtar Town)respectively. The purpose of the Charter of Demand (COD) was to highlight and reduce mismanagement of LESCO. A further rationale for the Charter was to help change the mindset of the public official from someone with power over the public to someone with care of duty in distribution of energy spending the public money collected through electricity bills and in providing them with necessary services. This COD was shared with both LESCO as well as other officials of the electricity sector. Moving forward RINP Team initiated dialogue among Energy Steering Committee (ESC) & government officials to address bottlenecks in service delivery and electricity sector reforms. Several meetings had been conducted at provincial level where “RINP Team” shared its initiatives and recommended course of actions to be taken as derived from the research study. A Public Perception report was presented at various policy platforms outlining core issues in electricity sector with recommendations for important reforms Meanwhile, in order to improve the knowledge, attitudes & practices (KAP) of the community, RINP Team developed Advocacy and Awareness campaigns on electricity sector reforms. An Effective communication strategy was launched to create awareness and to deliver the importance of electricity conservation to citizens. Various IEC / BCC Materials were designed, developed and distributed among masses. FM & Cable TV Campaigns were also aired to advocate citizens on three thematic areas namely; Energy Conservation, Power Theft & Citizens’ Rights. Now, that the program had reached its final stages, an end-line survey is being carried out to evaluate and assess the impact of RINP efforts with respect to the Energy Reforms. 6 | P a g e C. METHODOLOGY The end-line survey was conducted in from in October,2013, included two sub- surveys namely Consumer Survey & Utility Service Provider Survey (LESCO). To make a thorough impact assessment a total of 155 respondents (50-55 in each town) in Nishtar Town, Ravi Town and Allama Iqbal Town were selected. Two types of questionnaires had been used; A Consumer Questionnaire (Annexure 1), A Utility Service Provider questionnaire (Annexure 2). The questionnaires were filled following the same pattern used during the initial baseline study. 35 questionnaires were filled by consumers in each Town and 15 questionnaires were filled by utility provider. (Answer Query #4 & 5) Particpant Profile 18 Electricity Experts LESCO Officials 48 16 Civil society Representatives Govt. Officials Public Representatives 49 24 The consumer questionnaire aimed to obtain information on the awareness of consumers about their rights & the key electricity issues being face by the households, business community & general public at large. While the utility service provider questionnaire aimed to obtain information from LESCO on the quality of service provided, customer service (complaint handling), and awareness building efforts and so on. The sustainability of improved provision of electricity services & assessing impact of electricity reforms is positively associated with the degree to which all social groups and genders have access to and use the service. A project is not likely to be successful if it does not meet the needs of all population groups. Therefore, the targeted