IN MITHILA BELTIN MITHILA OF MADHESH/TARAI March 2019 GOVERNANCE ANDACCESS A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL TO BASIC SERVICES NEMAF Research Comprehensive Himalaya NEPA g k] f n L MADHESH F

d w z]

k m OUN f p 0 DA 8 TION z]

g

A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI II A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI dissemination ofthematerialincludedin this publication. attribution. Nepal MadheshFoundation welcomes and encourages theutilization and or byanymeans electronic , mechanical, photocopy, recording orotherwise without full publication may bereproduced,storedinaretrieval system ortransmitted in anyform © NepalMadheshFoundation, March2019. part ofthis All rightsreserved.No ISBN photos VDC TV TB SVAG SPSS SMC OBC NGO NEMAF N MCPM LGCDP KII IMR HURDEC HHH HH HDIs FM FGD DK DAGs CS CPG CBS Abbreviations and Acronyms NEMAF’s Offices District and itsteam whole. asa that process, participated including survey inthe field enumerators, supervisors, supporting process the of survey. the NEMAFwould people like the to also thank all and edited by Krishna Kumar NEMAFwishes Sah. to thank Governance Facility for basis the for report. the This wasanalytical report authored by Pawan Sen Kumar Prasad The Ligal. team preparedthedata analysisresults, whichthe of survey formed Tula Narayan Shah. The research team included Chand Sirjana Shah and Krishna of Nepal. team was led Theby survey Pawan Sen Kumarand was coordinated by across 20 former the of of 5 districts Mithila VDCs in Madhesh/Tarai Belt region Himalaya Comprehensive Research on request the of NEMAFand out carried then starting from November 2018.Ahousehold was to developed by December survey This the is report result of a researchprimary conducted the by NEMAFin months Acknowledgement : : 978-9937-8752-8-8 Tula NarayanShah ======Village Development Committee Television Tuberculosis Strengthening Voice and Accountable Governance Statistical PackagefortheSocialSciences School ManagementCommittee Other BackwardClass Non-Governmental Organization Nepal MadheshFoundation Number Minimum ConditionandPerformanceMeasure Local GovernanceandCommunityDevelopmentProgramme Key InformantsInterview Infant MortalityRate Human ResourceDevelopmentCenter House HoldHead House Hold Human DevelopmentIndices Frequency Modulation Focus GroupDiscussion Don’t Know DalitsAnd OtherDisadvantageGroups Can’t Say Civil PressureGroup Central BureauofStatistics l l

CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 4 Acknowledgement Abbreviations and Acronyms

: : : : : :

6.3 6.2 6.1 RESPONSIBILITY OF HEALTH POSTS 5.2 5.1 AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF WARD OFFICES 4.5 4.4 4.3 4.2 4.1 SERVICESLOCAL ANDFACILITIES 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.2 3.1 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.1 1.1 PERCEPTION TOWARD PERCEPTIONPUBLIC’S TOWARD PERCEPTIONPUBLIC’S TOWARD DECISION BELT MAKING INMITHILA RESPONDENTS’ PROFILE INTRODUCTION Work the Efficiency of Services Health Satisfaction with Health the Services inDifficulties Service Health Allowance Security Social Efficiency of Secretaries Ward Accountability Providers Service of Local Participation of People inCPG’s Programmes Awareness of people of discriminationExperiences invarious institutions Improvement and facilities inservices Limitation of Survey the Structure of Report the Data/ Information Processing and Analysis ofMethodology Perception the Survey Objectives of Perception the Survey Context of Perception the Survey The Project’sGeographical Area Decision Makers inVarious Matters and Activities Usage of Media Occupation and Source of Income Educational Status Composition Social Demographic Composition Brief Introduction of Project the Contents S SERVICES AND S S SERVICES 33 27 17 15 35 34 33 29 27 23 22 20 18 17 15 14 13 12 10 II II 9 1 8 8 7 6 6 5 3 9 1 III A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI IV A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI Table 4.9 Table 4.8 Table 4.7 Table 4.6 Table 4.5 Table 4.4 Table 4.3 Table 4.2 Table 4.1 Table: 3.1 Table 2.1 Table 1.4 Table 1.3 Table 1.2 Table 1.1 l l LIST OF TABLE CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 7 REFERENCES ANNEX : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Percentage of respondents agreed who or disagreed with statement: the Main actors family taking decisions on various =400] issues [Base Households with female ownership house (both and land) by district (in %)of Nepal, tarai and five the as districts of 2011 (Percentages are on multiple based responses) =234] [Base What did you or learn gain from programmes the organized by CPGs? = 400] dramas, etc.)? [Base By rallies District pressure groups (e.g. counselling and motivational sessions, street (Percentages are on multiple based responses) =400] participatory [Base Government of Nepal to make institutions the transparent and =400] leaders [Base discriminations from committee elected political members/local teachers, workers post health =400] etc.) [Base discriminations from government the officials (wardsecretaries, discrimination from traditional authority =400] [Base and corruptionBribery have =400] increased by [Base district Have you programmes participated insocial organized by civil Sources of awareness about mechanisms the Awareness of people about various mechanisms established by the Percentage of respondents or didnot experienced who experience Percentage of respondents or didnot experienced who experience Percentage of respondents or didnot experienced who experience disagreed with various statements =400] [Base Percentage of respondents agreed who or Use of for media information =400] and [Base news The mainevaluation question themeby Former under project the VDCs by and wtructure district new (inYears),IMR (in%),life expectancy literacy (in%)and poverty

: : :

8.2 8.1 7.3 7.2 7.1 SERVICES OF SCHOOLS COMMUNITY PERCEPTIONPUBLIC’S TOWARD CONCLUSION 49 PERCEPTIONPUBLIC’S ON THERIGHTS Public’s Concerns about Rights Confidence Exerciseto Rights Work School the Efficiency of Teachers and Satisfaction from CommunityServices Schools Type of Schools S

18 15

4 37 41 52 51 45 41 40 38 37 23 22 21 20 19 19 18 17 14 3 6 5 Figure 2.5 Figure 2.4 Figure 2.3 Figure 2.2 Figure 2.1 Table 8.6 Table 8.5 Table 8.4 Table 8.3 Table 8.2 Table 8.1 Table 7.4 Table 7.3 Table 7.2 Table 7.1 Table 6.6 Table 6.5 Table 6.4 Table 6.3 Table 6.2 Table 6.1 Table 5.2 Table 5.1 Table 4.11 Table 4.10 LIST OF FIGURE : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : (Percentages are on multiple based responses) =400] [Base (Percentages are on multiple based responses) =400] [Base =400] [Base By district are on multiple based responses) =400] [Base firstthingthat comes to your mind? (Percentages multiple responses) =258] [Base responses =258] of [Base aschool? By district on multiplebased responses) =379] [Base of workers post health the (percentages By district are been improvedbeen now compared to 3years =400 ago? [Base By district Did you that think work post health the efficiency of workers have on multiple responses) =233] [Base provided =246] by [Base By posts? health district provided by By posts? health =246] gender [Base =246] [Base district =389] [Base allowances and other related information and that have of who those registered complaints by district providers, deliveredwith quality the service by of services local where could register they complaints were they incase unsatisfied Religious composition of sample the Composition of broad group of caste/ethnicity of sample the Marital status of sample the Age group composition of sample the compositionSex of sample the youDo feel that state the treats = 400] [Base equally? everyone What reduces your confidence towardrightsthe you have? What gives you confidence towardrightsthe you have? H Are you familiar of with idea the human rights? When word the ‘rights’ what is used, is the Reasons of satisfaction (percentages are on based How much are you satisfied or dissatisfied the with Type of school by children’s caste/ethnicity Type of by Schools Children’s Gender Sources of contribution to improve work efficiency Reasons of satisfaction (Percentages are based How much satisfied are youservice withthe How much satisfied are youservice withthe Have your as per year? you inthis need By got service health the How satisfied areprovided youservice withthe by ward office? Proportion of households receiving Proportion of respondents the said how who that knew they and byvisited to district them access entitled the services providers timely wheneverservice they delivered service the Proportion public of local the said who that following the ave you heard about constitutional =400] rights? [Base By District

]

36 43 44 44 42 41 39 38 36 35 35 34 33 31 30 25 11 11 10 10 47 38 37 25 9 V A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI VI A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI Figure 8.9 Figure 8.8 Figure 8.7 Figure 8.6 Figure 8.5 Figure 8.4 Figure 8.3 Figure 8.2 Figure 8.1 Figure 7.2 Figure 7.1 Figure 6.1 Figure 5.5 Figure 5.4 Figure 5.3 Figure 5.2 Figure 5.1 Figure 4.4 Figure 4.3 Figure 4.2 Figure 4.1 Figure 2.10 Figure 2.9 Figure 2.8 Figure 2.7 Figure 2.6

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : workers (percentages are on multiple based responses) =379] [Base Sources of contribution to improve work post health the efficiencyof provided by ward =353] office[Base allowance are provided? being =389] [Base are on multiple based responses) =376] [Base work efficiency of wardsecretary? (Percentages improvedbeen now compared to 3years =400] ago? [Base after skills projectnemaf’s comparedbefore to project providers expressing improved their knowledge and =400] [Base access entitled the services providers timely visited whenever they to them delivered service the providers are accountable =400] to people the [Base to make institutions the transparent and =400] participatory [Base about various mechanisms established by Government the of Nepal Nepali language of aample the regard last inthe 3years? =400] [Base regard last inthe 3years? =400] [Base rights the respect that you care about? =400] [Base What is your greatest concern, ifany, about your =400] rights? [Base (Percentages are on multiple based responses) =38] [Base rights? (Percentages are on multiple based responses) =144] [Base (Percentages are on multiple based responses) =163] [Base are on multiple based responses) =400] [Base schoolthe teachersefficiency of =246] [Base improved now compared to 3years =258] ago? [Base Has state’s the behaviour changed inthis Has state’s the behaviour changed inthis state the Does (government, representatives, elected courts) Has concern this changed last inthe 3years? =400] [Base If no, what makes it unequal? When have you had opportunity the to hear about constitutional When have you had opportunity the to hear about human rights? Where rights come dothese from? (Percentages Sources of contribution to improve work youDo that think work schoolthe teachers efficiency of been have Reasons for satisfaction with service youDo know how many security of types social youDo allowances? know =400] security [Base about social Who doyou has contributed think to improve youDo that think work efficiency of has wardsecretary Percentage of staffs the of government service Proportion public of local the said who that following the service Proportion of respondents the said who that following the service Proportion of CPGmembers the said who that were they aware Occupational composition of sample the Educational status of sample the Understanding and/or capacity speaking of Mother Tongue of Sample the Main source of income of sample the

36 45

32 30 29 28 26 24 24 21 12 47 47 46 45 43 43 42 40 40 46 29 13 13 12 14 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Brief Introduction of the Project

With the financial support from the Governance Facility, Nepal Madhesh Foundation (NEMAF) has implemented a project “Strengthening Voice and Accountable Governance in the Mithila Belt of Madhesh/Tarai” from 15 December 2015 to 14 December 2018. The project has included 20 former Village Development Committees (VDCs) of five Tarai districts: Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusha, Mahottari and Sarlahi (four VDCs from each of the programme districts) in province 2.

The project aims to improve status of local people by sensitizing the both demand side (i.e. right holders/ local people) and supply side (i.e. duty bearers/ service providers). On one hand, it aims to strengthen the capacity of local people to gain knowledge, skills and abilities, and utilize their rights to play active roles in decision- making, planning and managing local development activities. On the other hand, the project also seeks to build up the capacity of local service providers (i.e. ward offices, health posts and community schools in particular) to give responsive and equitable services, and sensitize them to provide quality services without discrimination and delay. NEMAF’s theory of change believes that the status of local people in Madhesh/ Tarai will not improve unless problems of weak governance and weak rule of law (including corruption, poor service delivery, unequal power relations, and caste- and gender-based violence) are resolved, and that local citizens and organizations are empowered to improve overall governance and to promote social change in their communities (NEMAF 2015: 7).

According to studies commissioned by different national and international organizations, the overall governance in Nepal is poor due to the reasons such as political instability, long political transition and lack of elected governing bodies at district and local levels (NEMAF 2015: 13). The governance situation is even worse in the Madhesh/Tarai because of poor security, weak rule of law and high human right

abuses. Bad practice of corruption and lack of transparency and accountability in the OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 1 management of local development funds have further jeopardized the governance situation in the Madhesh/Tarai (NEMAF 2015: 13). In this context, NEMAF has identified - poor governance, inadequate capacities of the service providers to deliver services accountably, and less informed and empowered local citizens to influence decisions and make service providers accountable - as the main issues for the project to address (NEMAF 2015: 13-14). Poor planning processes, limited use of disaggregated data for planning, poor use of accountability tools such as public audits, social audits and public hearings, inadequate understanding of required working modalities and skills, and lack of transparency regarding the decisions made by the local authorities, have all contributed towards poor governance in the Madhesh/Tarai (NEMAF 2015: 14).

NEMAF realizes that discrimination free local governance cannot be achieved unless women, poor people, Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Muslims and Janajatis have an equal presence and access in the planning and decision-making processes. Therefore, the project has focused on the empowerment of local people by strengthening and mobilizing Civil Pressure Groups (CPGs). These are community- based informal organizations that are formed by including local people (mostly women) of Dalits and other disadvantaged groups (DAGs). These CPGs have been formed with the main objective of strengthening community solidarity to raise voices against misconduct and inefficient delivery of services and to ensure that the services are delivered to the local people without any discrimination and delay. In this context, the project has formed 80 CPGs in 20 programme VDCs of the 5 project districts (4 CPGs in each VDC). Each group consists of 15 members. They are composed of 64 percent women and 36 percent men. Majority of the members have been identified based on multiple levels of discrimination and hence reflect the most marginalized in their communities. A few members are also from advantaged groups so as to create an environment for both the discriminated and non-discriminated communities to work together, and contribute towards social cohesion (HURDEC 2016: 3).

The project is also working to capacitate the state service providers to improve overall governance and accountability at local levels by making them responsible to local service receivers irrespective of their caste/ethnicity, gender, class and religion. In order to achieve this goal, NEMAF has adopted a human-rights-based approach in this project; whereby local people or service receivers are the “right holders” and local state service providers are the “duty bearers”. The approach acts as an interface between the right holders and duty bearers. It intends to build up the capacity of right holders especially women and excluded groups so that they can claim their rights themselves and make local service providers more accountable toward them. In addition to this, the approach encourages duty bearers to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the right holders by strengthening the capacities of duty bearers. So, the project was designed with the main objective of supporting the creation of critical citizens, who are empowered and can claim their rights themselves with the local service providers, and demand good governance and accountability from them. Correspondingly, the service providers have also been strengthened to respond to the increased demands from the public side with improved accountability. By the A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 2 end of the project, two outcomes are targeted to be achieved: a) Right holders actively engage in local-level planning processes and benefit from improved accountability of the duty bearers; b) Responsive and efficient services are delivered by the duty bearers to the empowered local communities (NEMAF 2015: 5-6 & 17, HURDEC 2016: 9).

1.2 The Project’s Geographical Area

Maithali speaking districts of Madhesh/Tarai, Saptari, Siraha, Dhanusha, Mahottari and Sarlahi, are the geographical area of this project. These districts are selected because they represent the Mithila belt, have low Human Development Indices (HDIs) and poor performance in local governance as shown by their failure in the government’s Minimum Condition and Performance Measure (MCPM)(NEMAF 2015: 24).

These districts have lower status than the national and Tarai averages in terms of infant mortality rate (IMR), life expectancy and literacy. The national and Tarai averages of IMR (per 1,000 live births) are 40.5 percent and 48.8 percent respectively as per the National Population Census 2011. But all these five districts have higher IMR than the national and Tarai averages (CBS 2014a: 137). Life expectancy at birth for Nepal and Tarai are 66.6 years and 65.1 years respectively as of 2011. But this measurement is lower in these districts except Siraha (65.6 years) (CBS 2014a: 139). Literacy rates (6 years and above) are also remarkably lower in all of these districts compared to the national average (66.6 percent) and Tarai average (61.7 percent) as of 2011 (CBS 2014b: 204, 206).

Table 1.1: IMR (in %), life expectancy (in years), literacy (in %) and poverty (in %) of Nepal, tarai and the five districts as of 2011

Nepal Tarai Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi IMR (per 1000 population) 40.5 48.8 49.2 50.3 78.4 61.8 61.3 Life expectancy at birth 66.6 65.1 64.8 65.6 62.9 63.5 62.9 Literacy (6 years & above) 66.6 61.7 54.9 50.7 50.9 47.0 46.8 Poverty rate 25.2 23.4 39.5 34.6 23.1 16.2 17.7

Source: CBS 2014a; CBS 2068 BS; and CBS and the World Bank 2013

According to the estimation of poverty based on the Nepal Living Standard Survey 2010/11, proportion of the people living below the poverty line is 25.2 percent in Nepal. This proportion is 23.4 percent in Tarai (CBS 2068 BS: 9-10). Among the 5 districts, there is a wide variation across them. It is noted that poverty rates in Saptari (39.5 percent) and Siraha (34.6 percent) are much higher than the national and Tarai averages. Proportion of people living in poverty is lower in Dhanusha (23.1 percent), Sarlahi (17.7 percent) and Mahottari (16.2 percent) (CBS and The World Bank 2013: 17). What these data suggest is that the level of poverty in the eastern part of the Mithila belt is more severe. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 3 Female ownership of property such as house and land is generally low in Nepal. Only 10.7 percent of households have female owners in the country according to the national census of 2011. This proportion is slightly higher in Tarai (12.3 percent). In the five districts of Mithila, it is even lower than the national and Tarai averages (CBS 2012: 36). This indicates the acute gender disparity in this region.

Table 1.2: Households with female ownership (both house and land) by district

District Household Female Ownership Female Ownership (%) Nepal 54,23,297 5,80,757 10.7 Tarai 25,27,558 3,09,813 12.3 Saptari 1,21,064 9,159 7.6 Siraha 1,17,929 8,933 7.6 Dhanusha 1,38,225 13,722 9.9 Mahottari 1,11,298 9,479 8.5 Sarlahi 1,32,803 13,311 10.0

Source: CBS 2012

A study shows that child marriage is quite common and is on the rise in these districts. It is, in most of the cases, the girls who have to become victims of child marriages because they are married as soon as they reach puberty (it happened in 82 percent of the households). Fear of daughters’ eloping is a strong motive for parents in marrying their daughters at early age. Dowry custom is another social evil in the Mithila belt of Madhesh. Taking or giving dowries are widely practised in the region (57 percent of the households said so). This practice is even on the rise with increased demands. Unfortunately, the practice is even more pronounced amongst educated families in these districts (NEMAF and HCR 2017: 49, 52-55).

The project covers four former VDCs from each of the five districts. These VDCs have been selected considering a geographical coverage of VDCs near the highway, near the border area and in the centre of the districts (NEMAF 2015: 24). The VDCs that are covered by the project in the five districts are shown in the following table 1.3. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 4 Table 1.3: Former VDCs under the project by district and new structure District Former VDC New Structure Dadha Mahadewa rural municipality Goithi Tirhut rural municipality Saptari Maleth Rajbiraj municipality Raypur Rupani rural municipality Laxmipur Patari Maheshpur Patari Siraha Laxmipur Patari rural municipality Pipara Pra. Dha. Pokharbhinda Paudeswar Aurahi rural municipality Mansingpatti Janakpur sub-metropolitan city and Hanspur municipality Dhanusha Tarapatti Sirsiya Mithila Bihari municipality Thera Kachuri Kolhuwa Bageya Ekdara rural municipality Nainhi Mahottari Jaleshwar municipality Pigauna Simardahi Matihani municipality Kabilashi Kabilashi municipality Pipariya Sarlahi Pidari Haripur municipality Farhadwa

1.3 Context of the Perception Survey

NEMAF commissioned a Lalitpur based independent consulting firm, Himalaya Comprehensive Research (HCR), in November 2018 to undertake the perception survey to assess the impacts of the SVAG project on local governance provided by the three service providers. HCR was authorised by NEMAF to measure perceptions of both the CPG members (i.e. demand side and rights holders) and the service providers’ staffs (i.e. supply side and duty bearers). The perception survey were designed to uncover the opinions of the CPG members and the staffs toward the project’s programmes and activities in all of the five districts by taking the seven main thematic evaluation questions into account (Table 1.4). HCR completed the assignment in December 2018.

The table below shows the main evaluation questions, which were based on the following themes. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 5 Table 1.4: The main evaluation question by theme

Theme The Main Evaluation Question

How effective is the project in developing accountability of the Effectiveness service providers and creating empowered citizens?

Outcomes Is the project on the right track to achieving its intended outcomes?

Relevance How appropriate is the project design in the local context?

Efficiency How efficiently does NEMAF manage the project?

What effect has the project had on the partnership between NEMAF, Coordination the service providers, the CPGs, local communities and other relevant actors?

Beneficiaries’ satisfaction How satisfied are beneficiaries with the project?

Sustainability and replicability How sustainable and replicable is the project model?

1.4 Objectives of the Perception Survey

The main objective of the perception survey was to understand the opinions and attitudes of both the demand side (i.e. local people) and the supply side (i.e. service providers) as per the evaluation questions. The specific objectives of the study from the demand side are to find the percentage of citizens reporting improved confidence in their ability to exercise their rights and roles; to measure the proportion of citizens accessing basic services; to determine the percentage of citizens expressing timely delivery of entitlements by service providers; to measure the percentage of people expressing that accountability of public bodies has improved; and to know the percentage of citizens reporting that their complaints were addressed in satisfactory manner. On the supply side, eliciting the percentage of staff members of selected government service providers expressing improved knowledge and skills was another specific objective. Overall, the study was conducted to find out to what extent the project had met its purposes.

1.5 Methodology of the Perception Survey

The perception survey employed a mixed-method approach – both quantitative and qualitative. The survey was conducted in 20 former VDCs of the 5 programme districts (4 VDCs in each district), where the project was being implemented.

One of the methods that was used in this survey was a citizen perception survey (which is quantitative in nature), that was conducted in all the 20 former VDCs of the 5 districts among CPG members. The sample size of the perception survey was 400 CPG members residing in the 20 VDCs of the 5 programme districts. All the respondents of the survey were selected randomly from the programme area employing systematic sampling technique. At first, lists of the CPG members were prepared by district and gender. Then, proportional numbers of the CPG members

A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A were determined by district and gender considering the number 400 as the total. 6 In addition to the citizen perception survey, another perception survey of staffs of three government service providers; ward offices (i.e. former VDC offices), health posts and community schools; was also be conducted in all the 20 VDCs of the 5 programme districts. One staff from each of the three government service providers was selected leading to 3 staffs from one VDC. This made the total sample size of 60 staffs from the 20 VDCs of the 5 programme districts.

Beside these citizen perception survey and staff perception survey, FGDs and KIIs with both of the service receivers and service providers were conducted to collect qualitative information. The main purpose of conducting the FGDs and KIIs was to further triangulate and validate findings from the quantitative perception surveys. FGDs were held with 5 groups of local beneficiaries (one in each of the 5 districts). In each district, 2 KIIs were conducted, leading to 10 KIIs in total. KIIs were taken with CPG coordinators, ward officials, SMC representatives, health post workers, District Planning Officers and LGCDP representatives etc. Each FGD had included 8-10 participants and taken 45 minutes to 1 hour at the most. Duration of a KII, in average, was around an hour. All the FGDs and the KIIs were recorded with the participants’ consent.

Review of literature and documents of relevant documents, including NEMAF’s previous survey reports were done to understand public’s accessibility to services and accountability of the service providers.

1.6 Data/ Information Processing and Analysis

Once the administered questionnaires arrived at the office of HCR at Lalitpur, two research assistants responsible for coding and scrutiny went through the questionnaires manually and cleaned them (for example, checking for consistencies, filters, wild codes, extreme cases etc.). In the meantime, the category called ‘other’ responses or responses of open ended questions (which were not pre-coded at the outset) were coded into the dataset. Then, the data entry started. Data entry form was created using the CSPro software. In order to maintain the quality of the data, systems for legal codes check, authorized range check and skip pattern check were built in the data entry form. After the completion of data entry, the data were imported in SPSS where it was cleaned one more time digitally by running frequencies and cross- tabulations. Then, further database management, analysis and collating in tables were performed.

The data analysis was performed in a following way.

• Proportion of responses of every ordinal and nominal scale data as well as descriptive analysis of ratio scale data were performed to evaluate the programme performance. • Cross-tabulations between various variables were performed. • The data were disaggregated at different levels (e.g. across districts, ethnicities,

gender etc.) as per the necessity. OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 7 The information collected from the FGDs and the KIIs were first transcribed in Nepali, and then analysed and presented in a narrative-type report in English. The qualitative information had helped to triangulate and substantiate the findings of the perception survey. It further helped to gauge the gap between the perception of the CPG members and that of the government service providers.

1.7 Structure of the Report

The report begins with the Introduction Chapter that includes a brief introduction of the SVAG project, the project area and methodology of the survey. Second Chapter describes the respondents’ profile. Third Chapter concentrates on decision makings in families on various matters and activities. Fourth Chapter discusses about the CPG members’ perceptions toward local services and facilities. Then, the report highlights their perceptions toward services and responsibilities of ward offices, health posts and community schools in Chapter Five, Six and Seven respectively. Chapter Eight traces public's preception on the rights. Finally, the report ends up with conclusions in Chapter Nine.

1.8 Limitation of the Survey

The survey has some limitations too. But, these limitations are within the boundary of scientific research exercise. First of all, the survey includes only 20 project VDCs (as per the old administrative structure) from the five programme districts in its sample. Therefore, findings of this survey cannot be generalized for the entire five districts. It is generalizable only for these former VDCs. Secondly, the respondents of this survey are only those who are the current CPG members formed by NEMAF. Therefore, their perceptions cannot be generalized for wider societies. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 8 CHAPTER 2

RESPONDENTS’ PROFILE

2.1 Demographic Composition

Of the 400 respondents interviewed, 71 percent are female and 29 percent are male. So, the sample proportionally represents men and women as per their presence in the CPGs.

Figure 2.1: Sex composition of the sample 300 285

250

200

150 Female 115 Male 100 71.3

50 28.8

0 Frequency Percent

About 8 percent of the respondents represent the young generation (between the ages of 18 and 30). Another 30 percent belong to the age group between 31 and 40 while some 28 percent belong to that between 41 and 50. Proportion of those who are aged between 51 and 60 is 22 percent. Remaining 13 percent belong to the old generation (i.e. 61 years and above).The age composition of the CPG members indicates that overwhelming majority of the members are youth and below 50 years of age. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 9 Figure 2.2: Age group composition of the sample 140 118 120 112

100 87 80

Frequency 60 50 Percent 40 33 29.5 28 21.8 12.5 20 8.3 0 18 – 30 31 – 40 41 – 50 51 – 60 61 years and above

About 84 percent of the respondents interviewed are married while only 4 percent are unmarried. Another 10 percent are widow or widower. There are also few people who are living together without being married, married but separated now and divorced.

Figure 2.3: Marital status of the sample 400 337 350 300 250 200 Frequency 150 Percent 100 84.3 40 50 10 14 3.5 5 1.3 3 0.8 1 0.3 0

2.2 Social Composition

Most of the people included in the sample of the survey are from Other Backward Class of Tarai (38 percent) and Madheshi Dalit (36 percent), which is logical because NEMAF has deliberately formed the CPGs with an intension to include these groups. About 16 percent of the respondents belong to Tarai Janajati. Muslims constitute 9 percent. Madheshi high caste such as Brahman, Rajput and Kyastha comprises about 2 percent. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 10 Figure 2.4: Composition of broad group of caste/ethnicity of the sample 160 152 142 140 120 100 80 63 60 Frequency 38 35.5 36 40 Percent 15.8 20 9 7 1.8 0 Other Madheshi Muslim Medhesi high Backward Dalit caste Class

When the sample is broken down by religious affiliation of the respondents, the sample broadly represents the population living there. Ninety-one percent are Hindus while another 9 percent are Muslims.

Figure 2.5: Religious composition of the sample

Islam, 36 (9%)

Hinduism, 364 (91%)

Almost 92 percent of the respondents speak Maithili as their mother tongue. Urdu is the mother tongue of another 4 percent. There are very few people in the sample whose mother tongues are other than Maithili. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 11 Figure 2.6: Mother tongue of the sample 400

350

300

250

200 Frequency 150 Percent

100

50

0 Maithili Urdu Majhi Bajjika Tharu Bhojpuri Nepali

About 35 percent of the respondents can both understand and speak the Nepali language while another 43 percent can understand it, but cannot speak. Another 23 percent can neither understand Nepali nor speak.

Figure 2.7: Understanding and/or speaking capacity of Nepali language of the sample

90 (23%) 172 (43%)

138 (34%)

2.3 Educational Status

In terms of educational status, proportion of those who are illiterate is 34 percent. About 39 percent are literate. Proportions of those who have completed primary level and secondary level are equal: 12 percent for both. Another 4 percent of the respondents reported that they have completed higher secondary level or above. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 12 Figure 2.8: Educational status of the sample 180 155 160 135 140 120 100 80 Frequency 60 46 49 38.8 40 33.8 Percent 11.5 12.3 15 20 3.8 0 Illiterate Literate Primary Secondary Higher (up to grade 5) (up to grade 10) Secondary (up to +2) and above

2.4 Occupation and Source of Income

Majority of the respondents (69 percent) are involved in agriculture. About 17 percent of the respondents are working as daily wage labourers. Some 4 percent owns small industries or business. Job holders or service workers are 3 percent.

Figure 2.9: Occupational composition of the sample 300 277 250

200 Frequency 150 Percent

100 69.3 68 50 17 17 16 4.3 13 6 4 3.3 1.5 1 0.3 1 0.3 1 0.3 0

The main occupation of the respondents largely matches with the main source of income of the respondents. Sixty-four percent say that their main source of income is agriculture. Another 19 percent claim that their main source of income is daily wage labour followed by professional works (7 percent). For about 5 percent, income comes mainly from small industries and petty business. About 3 percent of the respondents do jobs or services to make their livings. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 13 Figure 2.10: Main source of income of the sample 300 256 250

200

150

100 76 64 Frequency 50 19 26 18 6.5 4.5 13 6 2 2 Percent 3.3 1.5 0.5 0.5 1 0.3 0

2.5 Usage of Media

Most of the respondents never use any form of media to get information and news. However, radio/FM has the highest level of penetration among the respondents followed by TV. Usage of internet is the least among them.

Table 2.1: Use of media for Information and news [Base = 400]

Always Sometimes Never CS/DK Total Newspaper/Magazine 2.0 12.5 84.1 1.5 100.0 Radio/FM 17.5 29.3 53.1 0.3 100.0 TV 11.0 23.5 65.3 0.3 100.0 Internet 2.0 4.8 93.1 0.3 100.0 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 14 CHAPTER 3

DECISION MAKING IN MITHILA BELT

3.1 Decision Makers in Various Matters and Activities

The survey endeavoured to know primary decision makers in the family regarding various family matters and activities. In this context, the survey asked who takes the decision in their families particularly on the matters regarding: (a) property sales/ purchase, (b) food, (c) social relations, (d) marriage issues, (e) employment, (f) family requirements, (g) health issues, and (h) educational issues.

It is basically male household heads who primarily take family decisions in the issues and activities such as property sales/purchase, food, social relation and employment. But in the cases of marriages, family requirement, health issues and educational issues, higher proportion says that decision is made jointly.

Table: 3.1: Main actors taking family decisions on various issues [Base = 400]

Male Female Male Female Member Member Matters/ Activities HH HH Jointly Other CS/DK Total (Not (Not Head Head HHH) HHH) Property sales/ purchase 57.5 8.5 .8 1.0 32.0 0.3 0.0 100.0 Food 46.0 20.0 .5 1.3 32.0 0.3 0.0 100.0 Social relation 46.5 12.8 .5 1.3 38.8 0.3 0.0 100.0 Marriage 32.8 5.3 1.0 3.8 57.0 0.3 0.0 100.0 Employment 46.8 7.3 1.5 1.0 43.0 0.3 0.3 100.0 Family requirement 39.5 8.8 1.0 3.5 47.0 0.3 0.0 100.0 Health issues 37.0 8.3 1.3 3.8 49.5 0.3 0.0 100.0 Educational issues 39.5 7.3 1.3 3.8 48.0 0.3 0.0 100.0 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 15 Overall, the survey shows that it is basically the male household heads who are taking the decisions in almost of the matters, either exclusively or jointly. Decisions made by the female household heads are consistently in third for all types of the matters. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 16 CHAPTER 4

PUBLIC’S PERCEPTION TOWARDS LOCAL SERVICES AND FACILITIES

4.1 Improvement in services and facilities

The survey read out the various statements regarding situation of development issue, living standards of people, law and order, and corruption to understand whether public are agreed or disagreed to these statements. Majority of the respondents, around 95 percent, agreed that development infrastructure has been increased. Similarly, an overwhelming majority of people (about 99 percent) agreed with the statements –‘people’s living standard has been improved’ and ‘the situation of law and order is good now’.

Table 4.1: Percentage of respondents who agreed or disagreed with various statements [Base = 400]

Statement Agree Disagree CS/DK Total A. Infrastructure of development has been increased. 94.8 4.3 1.0 100.0 B. People’s living standard has been improved. 98.5 1.0 0.5 100.0 C. Situation of law and order is good now. 98.8 1.0 0.3 100.0 D. Bribery and corruption have increased. 49.0 49.0 2.0 100.0 E. Development activities have expedited at local level. 87.0 12.3 0.8 100.0

Proportion of those who agreed with the statement –‘bribery and corruption have increased’ - is equal to those who disagreed with the statement (49 percent for both). Meanwhile, the percentage of the respondents who agreed that development activities have expedited at local level is also recorded high (87 percent). A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 17 There was no remarkable discrepancy between the public’s views on these statements across the five districts except on that one which is related to bribery and corruption. Proportion of those who agreed that bribery and corruption had increased was significantly higher in Sarlahi (61 percent) and Siraha (56 percent) than other districts. On the other, percentage of those who disagreed with this statement was higher in Mahottari (64 percent) and Saptari (54 percent).

Table 4.2: Percentage of respondents who agreed or disagreed with the statement: Bribery and corruption have increased by district [Base = 400]

Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi All Agree 42.5 56.3 48.8 36.3 61.3 49.0 Disagree 53.8 42.5 50.0 63.8 35.0 49.0 CS/DK 3.8 1.3 1.3 0.0 3.8 2.0 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

4.2 Experiences of discrimination in various institutions

Discriminations based on income class, caste, religion, gender, regions and party affiliation of people are still quite heard in the Mithila belt. On this regard, the survey first asked the question to all the respondents whether or not they had experienced discrimination from traditional authorities. The findings of the research show that 10 percent of the respondents experienced discrimination based on untouchability. Proportion of respondents who said they experienced discrimination from traditional authorities was 9 percent on the basis of class, followed by religion (7 percent), caste (5 percent), party affiliation (3 percent), ethnicity (3 percent), region (2 percent) and gender (2 percent). Normally people are more likely to experience discrimination based on untouchability and income class as compared to others basis.

Table 4.3: Percentage of respondents who experienced or did not experience discrimination from traditional authority [Base = 400]

Basis of Discrimination Yes No CS/DK Total A. Class (Rich and Poor) 9.0 91.0 0.0 100.0 B. Caste (Higher and Lower) 4.5 95.5 0.0 100.0 C. Untouchability (Dalits and non-Dalits) 10.0 90.0 0.0 100.0 D. Ethnicity (Caste and Ethnic Groups) 2.8 97.3 0.0 100.0 E. Religion (Hindu and Islam) 6.5 93.5 0.0 100.0 F. Gender (Male and Female) 1.5 98.5 0.0 100.0 G. Region (Hill People and Madheshi) 2.3 97.5 0.3 100.0 H. Party affiliation (Yours vs. their Tarties) 3.3 96.5 0.3 100.0

When asked the question about facing discrimination from government officials such as ward secretaries, teachers, health post workers, an overwhelming majority of the respondents reported that they had not experienced any kind of discrimination

A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A from the government officials. The detailed findings are presented in the table 4.4. 18 Table 4.4: Percentage of respondents who experienced or did not experience discriminations from the government officials (ward secretaries, teachers, health post workers etc.) [Base = 400]

Basis of Discrimination Yes No CS/DK Total A. Class (Rich and Poor) 1.3 98.8 0.0 100.0 B. Caste (Higher and lower) 1.0 99.0 0.0 100.0 C. Untouchability (Dalits and non-Dalits) 1.0 99.0 0.0 100.0 D. Ethnicity (Caste and Ethnic Groups) 0.8 99.3 0.0 100.0 E. Religion (Hindu and Islam) 0.8 99.0 0.3 100.0 F. Gender (Male and Female) 1.3 98.8 0.0 100.0 G. Region (Hill People and Madheshi) 1.8 98.0 0.3 100.0 H. Party affiliation (Yours vs. their Parties) 1.8 98.0 0.3 100.0

The FGDs also revealed that class emerged as an important factor with many of the participants for being discriminated. “If we go to the ward office, the elites and those who have contacts get their work done quickly, while the poor people and those who do not have contacts have to wait” (FGD with Muslim men in Siraha, FGD with Janajati men in Sarlahi), and “at the health post, the richer are treated quickly and given sufficient amount of medicine, while the poor are either not provided or provided insufficient amount of medicine” (FGD with Dalit women in Saptari, FGD with Muslim men in Siraha) were some of the commonly held perceptions. The FGD with Janajati men in Sarlahi showed that officials in the ward office provided better and more efficient services on the basis of party affiliation.

As in the earlier case with the government officials, an overwhelming majority of the respondents reported that they did not experience any kind of discrimination from elected committee members/local political leaders. Nevertheless, those who said that they experienced discrimination from these stakeholders were higher in terms of party affiliation. The detailed is presented in the table 4.5.

Table 4.5: Percentage of respondents who experienced or did not experience discriminations from elected committee members/local political leaders [Base = 400]

Basis of Discrimination Yes No CS/DK Total A. Class (Rich and Poor) 1.0 99.0 0.0 100.0 B. Caste (Higher and Lower) 1.5 98.5 0.0 100.0 C. Untouchability (Dalits and non-Dalits) 1.5 98.5 0.0 100.0 D. Ethnicity (Caste and Ethnic groups) 1.3 98.8 0.0 100.0 E. Religion (Hindu and Islam) 1.0 99.0 0.0 100.0 F. Gender (Male and Female) 1.0 99.0 0.0 100.0 G. Region (Hill People and Madheshi) 1.8 98.0 0.3 100.0 H. Party affiliation (Yours vs. their Parties) 3.0 96.8 0.3 100.0 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 19 The overall findings suggest that even though the vast majority of the respondents reported that they had not experienced any kind of discrimination from the traditional authorities, the government officials and the elected committee members/ local political leaders, amongst those who did mention that they had experienced discrimination was remarkably higher for the traditional authorities as compared to the government officials and the elected committee members/local political leaders. Furthermore, the FGDs showed that health posts were the main place where people had experienced more discrimination on the basis of party affiliation. Findings of the KIIs and FGDs showed that class was also perceived to be important, with many people believing that the richer people received better and more efficient services, than those who are poor.

4.3 Awareness of people

Nepal government has provisioned some compulsory mechanisms to implement with an objective to make the activities of ward offices, heath posts and community schools transparent, and make these institutions more responsible, transparent and participatory. In this context, all the respondents were asked whether or not they knew about these mechanisms of social audits, public audits, public hearings, citizen charters and integrated plan formulation processes. In order to understand the public’s awareness about these mechanisms, two different questions were asked, the first question asked was ‘Did you know before 3 years ago?’ and the second question was ‘Do you know now?’ The reason for comparing between ‘3 years ago’ and ‘now’ is that NEMAF had commenced the project SVAG in 2015 (i.e. 3 years ago). Therefore, these two questions can compare the trend of the public awareness before the project had commenced and after the project had been completed. An overwhelming majority of the respondents said that they did not know about these mechanisms 3 years ago (i.e. when the project had commenced). Only one in ten, in average, had known about these tools at that time. However, higher proportion of the respondents reported that they knew about these mechanisms now as compared to those who said they knew about these mechanisms 3 years ago. But, it is worthwhile to mention that proportion of those who knew about them now are still lower than those who said that they did not know about them.

Table 4.6: Awareness of people about various mechanisms established by the Government of Nepal to make the institutions transparent and participatory [Base = 400]

Did you know 3 years ago? Do you know now? Mechanism Yes No CS/DK Total Yes No CS/DK Total A. Social audit 10.8 88.8 0.5 100.0 47.0 52.5 0.5 100.0 B. Public audit 10.3 89.3 0.5 100.0 40.8 58.8 0.5 100.0 C. Public hearing 10.5 89.0 0.5 100.0 40.0 59.5 0.5 100.0 D. Citizen charter 11.3 88.3 0.5 100.0 42.8 56.8 0.5 100.0 E. Integrated plan 10.5 89.0 0.5 100.0 46.3 53.3 0.5 100.0 formulation process A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 20 Average percentage of the CPG members, who were aware about various mechanisms established by the Government of Nepal to make the institutions transparent and participatory, is also calculated. In average, 43.4 percent of the CPG members are found aware.

Figure 4.1: Proportion of the CPG members who said that they were aware about various mechanisms established by the Government of Nepal to make the institutions transparent and participatory [Base = 400]

Average Social audit 43.4% 47%

Integrated plan Public audit process , 46.4% 40.8%

Public hearing 42.8% 40%

The survey also revealed that it was basically NEMAF and its CPGs, who contributed to make the respondents to know about these mechanisms. More than 90 percent of the respondents mentioned either NEMAF or its CPGs as the sources of their awareness about social audit, public audit, public hearing, citizen charter and integrated plan formulation process.

Table 4.7: Sources of awareness about the mechanisms (Percentages are based on multiple responses)

Integrated Plan Social Public Public Citizen Formulation Audit Audit Hearing Charter Process

NEMAF 91.0 89.3 89.0 89.7 91.6 Civil Pressure Group 4.1 4.9 5.9 5.6 3.5 Ward offices 4.1 4.9 5.1 4.8 3.5 Women's groups 1.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7 Jiban Kendra Sanstha 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 Political parties 0.7 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.7 Poverty Alleviation Group 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 Human rights related organizations 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 Total 103.4 102.5 102.5 102.4 102.1 Base 145 122 118 126 143 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 21 4.4 Participation of People in CPG’s Programmes

The survey revealed that the majority of the respondents (59 percent) participated in social programmes organized by CPGs (e.g. counselling and motivational sessions, street dramas, rallies etc.). But, it is worthwhile to mention that proportion of those who did not participate in such programmes was very high (41 percent). Since the respondents of this survey were the CPG members only, this percentage indicates severely weak efficiency of the CPGs. Going by district, the largest proportion of the CPG members of Siraha (90 percent) had participated in such programmes followed by Saptari (85 percent). Other three districts showed the lower level of participation.

Table 4.8: Have you participated in social programmes organized by civil pressure groups (e.g. counselling and motivational sessions, street dramas, rallies etc.)? By District [Base = 400]

All Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi Yes 58.5 85.0 90.0 47.5 32.5 37.5 No 41.5 15.0 10.0 52.5 67.5 62.5 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

The FGDs with different groups indicated that they had been actively participated in the programmes organized by the NEMAF’s CPGs. They said that it was due to the CPG’s programmes that raised awareness about number of medicines health posts were supposed to provide free of costs (FGD with Janajati men in Sarlahi). Due to the CPG’s programmes, they were acquainted with social audit, public audit and public hearing (FGD with Muslim men in Siraha, FGD with OBC mixed group in Dhanusha, FGD with high caste women in Mahottari). The KIIs with a ward chairperson of Mansingpatti in Dhanusha, a health focal person of Kabilashi in Sarlahi and a local political leader of Dadha in Saptari also agreed with this. But FGD with Dalit women in Saptari disclosed that they were still unknown to the accountability tools provisioned by the government.

Among those, who said that they had participated in the programmes organized by CPGs, a follow-up question was asked what they learned or gained from these programmes. About 43 percent mentioned that their awareness had been increased due to these programmes. Some 25 percent said that there was an increase in their knowledge. Some 18 percent told that these programmes increased their ability to speak in a group and wider society. Development of personality of local people, and awareness toward health and sanitation were two important things they learned and gained from such programmes. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 22 Table 4.9: What did you learn or gain from the programmes organized by CPGs? (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 234]

Percent Increased awareness 43.2 Increased knowledge 25.2 Ability to speak in a group increased 17.5 Personality development 9.8 Awareness toward health and sanitation 7.3 Monitoring of health post 3.8 Increased capability to make local bodies work done 3.8 Increased social harmony 1.7 Awareness towards rights 0.9 DK/CS 8.5 Total 121.8

4.5 Accountability of Local Service Providers

The survey revealed that about 97 percent of the respondents think that ward offices are accountable to the people. The KIIs indicated that one main reason behind improved services and accountability of ward offices was because of the increased awareness of local public about their entitlements and services that should be provided by the government public services. According to an executive officer of Haripur municipality (Farhadwa) in Sarlahi, programmes conducted by NEMAF had played a key role on this regard by raising people’s awareness in recent years. A ward chairperson of Mansingpatti in Dhanusha and a health post in-charge of Pipra Pra. Dha. in Siraha gave the same opinion. However, a Dalit woman ward member of Kolhuwa Bageya in Mahottari said that general public still lacked the knowledge of divisions of responsibilities among the service providers.

Likewise, the proportions of people who think so with regard to health posts and community schools are 97 percent and 95 percent respectively. A headmaster of Maheshpur Patari in Siraha, during the KII with him, expressed that “before people were ignorant and did not know about their rights. But, they have now become aware due to the programmes conducted by NEMAF. So, they come to the meetings to discuss about a progress and their suggestions could not be unheard”.

The KIIs indicated that one of the reasons why ward offices were accountable to the people was because of formation of users’ committees by including only the local people. “In previous days, users’ committees were formed by including only party activists (even though they were outsiders). Nowadays, users’ committees are formed by including only local people. The CPGs plays a significant role in this regard” (KII with an executive officer of Haripur municipality in Sarlahi). A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 23 Figure 4.2: Proportion of the respondents who said that the following service providers are accountable to the people [Base = 400] 100 97.3% 96.8% 95.3%

80

60

40

20 Health posts Community schools

There were no significant differences in this issue across districts and other demographic variables.

According to the respondents’ perception, an overwhelming majority thinks that all the three types of the service providers have been delivering the services timely. However, proportion of the people who think so is slightly lower in the case of health posts (91 percent) compared to other two institutions.

Figure 4.3: Proportion of the local public who said that the following service providers delivered the service timely whenever they visited them to access the entitled services [Base = 400]

Community schools 94.5% 95%

Health posts 90.8%

Going by district, it is found that timely delivery of the services from all the institutions: ward offices, health posts and community schools is pronounced highest in Dhanusha district (99 percent in all) while it is the lowest in Saptari with regard to all institutions (85 percent in ward offices, 83 percent in health posts and 88 percent in community schools). A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 24 Table 4.10: Proportion of the local public who said that the following service providers delivered the service timely whenever they visited them to access the entitled services by district

Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi Ward offices 85.0 98.8 98.8 97.5 95.0 Health posts 82.5 92.5 98.8 96.3 83.8 Community schools 87.5 96.3 98.8 98.8 91.3

Only 43 percent of the respondents said that they knew how and where they could register complaints if they were dissatisfied with the service quality delivered by the service providers. This percentage is not substantial since all the respondents are the CPG members. Proportion of those who knew about it was relatively higher in Siraha (56 percent) and Sarlahi (56 percent).

Among those who said that they knew about how to register complaints, only 14 percent had ever registered complaints about the services or quality of the services. Practice of registering complaints was quite high in Sarlahi (22 percent) and Saptari (21 percent).

Table 4.11: Proportion of the respondents who said that they knew how and where they could register complaints in case they were unsatisfied with the quality of services delivered by local service providers, and that of those who have registered complaints by district

All Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi Who knew [Base = 400] 42.8 35.0 56.3 31.3 35.0 56.3 Who registered [Base = 171] 13.5 21.4 0.0 16.0 10.7 22.2

Furthermore, the most of the participants of the FGDs reported that they were not aware of how to formally register complaints (FGD with high caste women in Mahottari, FGD with Dalit women in Saptari, FGD with Muslim men in Siraha, FGD with Janajati men in Sarlahi). Instead, they said that most of the complaints were made verbally to the service providers through the CPGs, but they were, sometimes, taken seriously, sometimes not (FGD with high caste women in Mahottari).“General public do not complain, because they do not know how to do it. Only local elites and politicians do it” (FGD with Janajati men in Sarlahi). Opinion of a health focal person of Kabilashi in Sarlahi also matched with these views. He said that there was no practice of dropping complaints in a complaint box even though there was a privilege for this.The service providers, however, had a different perspective in this regard. A ward chairperson of Mansingpatti in Dhanusha and a municipality executive officer of Haripur (Farhadwa) in Sarlahi opined that the complaints, once received, would be sent to concerned officials and then addressed. Overall, the findings from the survey, the FGDs and the KIIs revealed that awareness of the public and timely delivery of the services had increased due to the work of NGOs, such as NEMAF, and due to the regular monitoring conducted by the CPGs. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 25 About 91 percent of those who complained to the ward offices think that their complaints were addressed in satisfactory manner. About 89 percent of those who complained to the health posts think that their complaints were addressed in satisfactory manner. This proportion was 89 percent in the context of the community schools too. So, probability of the complaints being address in satisfactory manner was found to be very high even though number of complaints registered was very low.

The staffs of the three service providers also agreed that their knowledge and skills had been improved compared to 3 years ago. These percentages for ward offices, health posts and community schools are 95 percent, 95 percent and 100 percent respectively.

Figure 4.4: Percentage of staffs of the government service providers expressing their improved knowledge and skills after nemaf’s project compared to before project

95%

Schools Community 100%

Health Posts 95% A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 26 CHAPTER 5

PUBLIC’S PERCEPTION TOWARDS SERVICES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF WARD OFFICES

5.1 Efficiency of Ward Secretaries

The survey attempted to understand the perception of the public regarding the efficiency of ward secretaries as compared to 3 years ago in order to measure the impact of the SVAG project. In this regards, the question that was asked to all the respondents was: ‘Do you think that work efficiency of ward secretary has been improved now compared to 3 years ago?’ In response to this question, 94 percent said ‘yes’.

This was further corroborated by the KIIs and the FGDs which remarked that compared to three years ago, work efficiency of the service providers were better now. Most of the FGD participants mentioned that “in the past, there were always delays. Nowadays, people ask the concerned officials why their work is getting late. Because of this raised awareness of the public, officials provide service without any delay” (FGDs with Janajati men in Sarlahi, high caste women in Mahottari, and Muslim men in Siraha). Dalit women in Saptari mentioned that officials were available in the office only for five days in every ten days. Now, they were available every day. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 27 Figure 5.1: Do you think that work efficiency of ward secretary has been improved now compared to 3 years ago? [Base = 400]

No, 3.5 CS/DK, 2.5

Yes, 94

In FGDs conducted with Janajati men in Sarlahi, OBC mixed group in Dhanusha, high cast women in Mahottari, Muslim men in Siraha and Dalit women in Saptari, the participants told that improvement in services delivery by the service providers due to the public’s increased awareness given by different organizations such as NEMAF. NEMAF had conducted workshops in villages to educate the local public what types of service could be obtained from which service provider. NEMAF’s CPG members’ largely contributed in this regard by raising awareness to the public about exercising their rights in the offices of the service providers. An executive officer of Haripur municipality (Farhadwa) in Sarlahi, a ward chairperson of Mansingpatti in Dhanusha and Dalit woman ward member of Kolhuwa Bageya in Mahottari expressed the same during the KIIs with them. In particular, OBC mixed group pointed out that well qualified doctors were posted in health posts nowadays and they stayed there for a whole day. In previous days, doctors were less qualified and not available for a whole day. It happened due to regular monitoring of the CPG members.

Among those who said that the work efficiency of ward secretaries has been improved at present compared to 3 years ago, 62 percent mentioned that it happened so due to NEMAF’s contribution. Some 18 percent named CPGs (which were also formed and trained by NEMAF). Another 17 percent mentioned ‘local people’. Some 16 percent said that improvement in the work efficiency of ward secretaries was because of ward chairperson or elected representatives. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 28 Figure 5.2: Who do you think has contributed to improve work efficiency of ward secretary? (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 376]

Local NGOs 1.1

2.7

16.3

Local people 17

17.6

NEMAF 62

Despite the remarkable improvements in the services, there are still spaces for more improvements. As not all the KII and the FGD participants were satisfied with the delivery of services. Some discriminatory practices were also reported by some of the participants during the FGDs. One man remarked that “the secretary does the work of rich people quickly, but poor people are made to wait” (FGD with Muslim men in Siraha, FGD with Janajati men in Sarlahi).

5.2 Social Security Allowance

The government of Nepal has been providing various types of social security allowances to people. In particularly, the government provides five different types of social security allowance: senior citizen, single women, disabled, conflict victim and Dalit students allowances based on some defined measures and parameters. To measure the public knowledge in this regard, some questions were asked to the respondents. An overwhelming majority of respondents (97 percent) said that they knew about the social security allowance. These findings were also in line with the FGDs, which indicated that the almost all of the participants were aware about the types and amount provided. They appreciated that old citizens were provided their allowances at home. But Muslim men in Siraha said that ward office used to delay providing the allowance by 5 to 6 days.

Figure 5.3: Do you know about social security allowances? [Base = 400]

No, 2.5 CS/DK, 0.3

Yes, 97.3 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 29 To measure the knowledge of the respondents about the different types of the social security allowances, the survey asked a follow-up question: ‘Do you know how many types of social security allowances are being provided?’ Most of them (38 percent) reported three types of the social security allowances being provided, followed by two types (26 percent) and four types (22 percent). Proportion of those, who said ‘five types’ (which is the correct answer), was only 9 percent. This indicates that the CPG members (who were the respondents of this survey) lack the comprehensive knowledge of the social security allowances, which is not a good sign.

Figure 5.4: Do you know how many types of social security allowance are being provided? [Base = 389]

CS/DK 0.3

0

Five 9.3

Four 21.6

Three 38.3

Two 26

One 4.6

05 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

The survey also attempted to discover how many households of the CPG members were receiving the allowances. In addition, it also asked whether or not they received the full amount, whether or not they received timely, whether or not they received without paying extra money, and whether or not they received without facing any difficulties.

Little more than one third of the respondents (35 percent) mentioned that their households were receiving the social security allowances. Amongst those who received the social security allowances, all reported that they received the full amount. Also, all of them received timely.

Table 5.1: Proportion of households receiving allowances and other related information All Yes No Total A. Do you or any member of the household receive such allowances? 35.2 64.8 100.0 [Base = 389] B. Did you receive the full amount?[Base = 137] 100.0 0.0 100.0 C. Did you receive timely? [Base = 137] 100.0 0.0 100.0 D. Did you pay any extra fees/amount to get the entitled allowances? 12.4 87.6 100.0 [Base = 137] E. Did you face any difficulty to receive the allowances? [Base = 137] 0.0 100.0 100.0 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 30 However, some sizeable number of them (12 percent) said that they paid extra fee to get the allowance although the majority of them (88 percent) reported that they did not pay any extra fee to get the entitled allowances. These respondents, who said that their households were receiving the allowances, were also asked whether or not they faced any difficulty to receive the allowances. In response to this question, all of them percent said they did not face any difficulty to receive the allowance.

Another follow-up question was asked: ‘How much satisfied are you with the service provided by ward office? In response to this question, an overwhelming majority (91 percent) perceived that they were satisfied with the service including fully satisfied (17 percent).Looking at district level, even though majority of the respondents in all the five districts were satisfied, intensity of satisfaction was found to be lower in Saptari, Siraha and Sarlahi compared to Dhanusha and Mahottari.

Table 5.2: How satisfied are you with the service provided by ward office? [Base = 389]

All Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi Fully satisfied 17.0 8.9 7.6 14.3 36.8 8.9 Satisfied 73.8 73.4 91.1 80.5 56.6 73.4 Unsatisfied 1.8 0.0 0.0 2.6 2.6 0.0 Totally unsatisfied 0.5 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3 CS/DK 6.9 16.5 1.3 2.6 3.9 16.5 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

A follow-up question for the reasons for satisfaction or dissatisfaction was asked to those who were satisfied or dissatisfied with the services provided by ward offices. Those who were satisfied with the services mentioned four major reasons– accomplishing works on time, opening of ward office on time, receiving the social security allowances on time and moving ahead of development works. The majority of the FGD participants also expressed the same view that they were satisfied with the timely delivery of services. The KII with a local political leader of Dadha in Saptari further added that one reason why the services had been improved was because local public were now aware of their entitlements because of awareness raising programme conducted by NEMAF, and this had been reflected in them being empowered and conscious demanding their works done on time. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 31 Figure 5.5: Reasons for satisfaction with service provided by ward office [Base = 353]

Accomplish the all types Transparency, 7.4

Work accomplishes on

Provide social security

Development works are moving ahead, 18.1

Provide social security Work accomplishes on A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 32 CHAPTER

PERCEPTION 6 TOWARDS SERVICES AND RESPONSIBILITY OF HEALTH POSTS

6.1 Difficulties in Health Service

The survey revealed that most of the people (62 percent) visited health posts to receive health services in this year. Though all of them did not get the health services as per their needs, an overwhelming majority of the people (96 percent) received health services as per their needs in this year. Going by district, getting of the health services as per the people’s requirement was lower in Sarlahi (83 percent) compared to other districts.

Table 6.1: Have you got the health service as per your need in this year? By district [Base = 246]

All Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi Yes 95.9 96.2 100.0 100.0 98.0 82.5 No 4.1 3.8 0.0 0.0 2.0 17.5 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Among those who had visited the health facilities during the last year, most of them did not face any difficulties while getting health services. Only a few had to face some difficulties. Unavailability of medicines was the main difficulty experienced by the respondents while accessing the health services. The lack of medicine and discrimination at health posts emerged as the most significant issue during the FGDs and the KIIs too. During the FGD with Dalit women in Saptari, some of them told that “when I was sick, they (health post staffs) did not provide me medicine and ask me to go to a medical shop to buy. But immediately after me, another patient was provided with medicines”, while another Dalit woman reported “once when I was pregnant, I went to a health post to ask for satu (a kind of energetic wheat flour). They did not give me. But after sometime, a person, who was acquainted with them, came there and ask for it. They immediately gave it to that person.” However, a health post in-charge of Pipra

Pra. Dha. in Siraha denied any kind of discrimination at his health post. Facilities as OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 33 per needs were provided to everyone (if available) irrespective of caste and income status. But he agreed with the fact that health posts were not receiving medicines on time because of which they could not provide medicines to general public on time. He also told that some health posts staffs did not speak to visitors politely.

The KII with an executive officer of Haripur municipality (Farhadwa) in Sarlahi also echoed this perception. He said that level of the public’s satisfaction with health post would be higher if the public got medicines in a sufficient amount on time. A ward chairperson of Mansingpatti in Dhanusha, Dalit woman ward member of Kolhuwa Bageya in Mahottari, a female social activist of Maleth in Saptari, a local political leader of Dadha in Saptari and a headmaster of Maheshpur Patari in Siraha also agreed with this. Even the KII with a health focal person of Kabilashi in Sarlahi confirmed this situation. However, he claimed that public were timely receiving the medicines of TB, malaria and family planning.

However, compared to previous years, almost all the participants reported increased availability of medicine. “Service at health posts has definitely improved. Health post staffs have received capacity building trainings. Beside this, NEMAF has also educated people time after time on what facilities and medicines can be obtained from health posts as their rights because of which work efficiency of health posts has improved” (KII with an executive officer of Haripur municipality in Sarlahi). Lack of medicines and non-cooperating attitude of health staffs were also identified by the survey findings and the FGDs. Some FGD participants mentioned “they (health post staff) used to open health posts if local people regularly concern about it and regularly monitor their work” (FGD with Janajati men in Sarlahi, FGD with OBC group in Dhanusha). One participant told that health post staffs used to deny providing medicines to those who could not explicitly ask for it (FGD with Muslim men in Siraha). Local political leader of Nainhi of Mahottari expressed the similar view. She said that general public were not getting all types of medicine in sufficient amount health posts were supposed to provide as per the government facility.

6.2 Satisfaction with the Health Services There was a moderate level of satisfaction among the respondents with the services provided by health posts. Proportion of those who were fully satisfied was significantly lower compared to those who were satisfied. Difference was even higher among female than male, indicating that level of satisfaction with the health posts’ services was lower among female.

Table 6.2: How much satisfied are you with the service provided by health posts? By gender [Base = 246] All Female Male Fully satisfied 16.7 14.2 22.9 Satisfied 78.0 80.7 71.4 Unsatisfied 4.9 4.5 5.7 Totally unsatisfied 0.0 0.0 0.0 CS/DK 0.4 0.6 0.0 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 34 Looking by district, it was realized that level of satisfaction was the lowest in Siraha even though the majority of the respondents in this district too were either fully satisfied or satisfied. Intensity of satisfaction was highest in Mahottari with 28 percent saying fully satisfied.

Table 6.3: How much satisfied are you with the service provided by health posts? By district [Base = 246]

All Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi Fully satisfied 16.7 23.1 4.9 14.3 27.5 15.0 Satisfied 78.0 71.2 90.2 83.3 70.6 72.5 Unsatisfied 4.9 5.8 4.9 2.4 2.0 10.0 Totally unsatisfied 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 CS/DK 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

The main reason of satisfaction as identified by the people was timely treatment, followed by improvement in treatment procedure and free treatment.

Table 6.4: Reasons of satisfaction (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 233] All Treatment on time 83.3 Improvement in treatment procedure 20.7 Free treatment 20.6 Availability of doctors regularly 14.6 Allowance for the mother 3.0 Management of environmental sanitation 1.3 They give proper suggestion 0.9 They provide door to door clinical service 0.9 Available of general medicine 0.4 DK/CS 0.9 Total 146.4

Meanwhile, the main reason for dissatisfaction, as identified by the people, was the lack of medicine.

6.3 Work Efficiency of the Health Services

Compared to the past 3 years, an overwhelming majority (95 percent) of the respondents said that work efficiency of the health post workers had improved. Going by district, proportion of those who said so was remarkably lower in Saptari compared to other districts. However, as high as 85 percent in this district too said that the work efficiency had improved. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 35 Table 6.5: Did you think that work efficiency of the health post workers have been improved now compared to 3 years ago? By district [Base = 400] All Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi Yes 94.8 85.0 97.5 98.8 98.8 93.8 No 2.8 6.3 2.5 0.0 0.0 5.0 CS/DK 2.5 8.8 0.0 1.3 1.3 1.3 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Amongst the respondents who said that work efficiency of the health post workers had improved, a follow-up question was asked to mention who had contributed for the improvement of the work efficiency. A remarkably large majority (68 percent) of them named NEMAF behind this improvement, followed by CPGs (which was also formed and trained by NEMAF). About 14 of them mentioned ‘local people’. Some 11 percent said that the improvement was due to ward chairpersons or elected local representatives.

Figure 6.1: Sources of contribution to improve work efficiency of the health post workers (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 379]

NGOs, 0.8 DK/CS, 0.3

Local people, 13.5

Group, 16.9 NEMAF, 67.5

District level disaggregation shows interesting findings in this regard. In the districts except Saptari, mostly pronounced source of contribution to improve work efficiency of the health post workers was NEMAF while NEMAF and local people were equally identified in Saptari. The CPGs were identified for the contribution in Saptari, Siraha and Dhanusha while their contribution was found to be nil in Mahottari and Sarlahi. Contribution of political parties was moderately pronounced in Saptari.

Table 6.6: Sources of contribution to improve work efficiency of the health post workers By district (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 379] Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi NEMAF 39.7 70.5 65.8 83.5 74.7 Citizen Pressure Group 32.4 29.5 24.1 0.0 0.0 Local people 39.7 15.4 2.5 1.3 12.0 Ward chairman/elected representative 11.8 3.8 10.1 15.2 14.7 NGOs 1.5 2.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 Political parties 13.2 0.0 2.5 0.0 2.7 DK/CS 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3 0.0 Total 138.2 121.8 105.1 101.3 104.0 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 36 CHAPTER 7

PUBLIC’S PERCEPTION TOWARDS SERVICES OF COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

7.1 Type of Schools

The survey showed that most of the respondents (65 percent) had children of school going age (between 5 and 16 years) and most of them go to school. Among them, most of them (64 percent) go to community schools. Another 35 percent of the children go to private schools. A very few children (1.3 percent) go to traditional schools such as madarasa and gurukul.The survey also disclosed that gender of the children does matter for parents to decide where to send (i.e. type of schools) their children to gain education. It was found that proportion of boys who were admitted in private schools (43 percent) was significantly higher than those of girls (26 percent). On the other, a very higher proportion of girls were admitted in community schools (73 percent) than boys (55 percent).

Table 7.1: Type of Schools by Children’s Gender

Children’s Gender Type of Schools All Male Female Community school 63.6 55.4 73.4 Private school 35.1 42.9 25.8 Traditional school 1.3 1.7 0.8 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 N 538 294 244

By looking across caste/ethnicity, it was realized that Madheshi Dalits and Tarai

Janajatis were the groups who sent their children to community schools largely. OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 37 Other groups such as OBC and Muslims preferred to admit their children in private schools, but majority of the children from these communities too had been studying in community schools.

Table 7.2: Type of school by children’s caste/ethnicity

Broad Group of Caste/Ethnicity Type of Schools All Madheshi Tarai Madheshi OBC Muslim Dalit Janajati High Caste Community school 63.6 51.9 76.5 50.8 67.9 50.0 Private school 35.1 48.1 22.1 42.4 32.1 50.0 Traditional school 1.3 0.0 1.5 6.8 0.0 0.0 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

7.2 Services and Satisfaction from Community Schools

An overwhelming majority (97 percent) said that they had no difficulties in this year in schools when they visited there. Another complementary question was asked to measure the level of satisfaction of the respondents in connection to schools’ responses when they had visited there. The survey revealed that almost 90 percent of the respondents mentioned that they were satisfied with the responses of schools (with 20 percent saying very satisfied).

Table 7.3: How much are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the responses of a school? By district [Base = 258]

All Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi Very satisfied 19.8 16.1 5.0 18.6 17.4 43.4 Satisfied 70.2 69.6 78.3 79.1 80.4 45.3 Unsatisfied 2.3 0.0 3.3 0.0 0.0 7.5 Very unsatisfied 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 CS/DK 7.8 14.3 13.3 2.3 2.2 3.8 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Going by district, it was seen that level of satisfaction was lowest in Siraha district where only 5 percent said that they were very satisfied. The satisfaction was highest in Sarlahi where about 43 percent mentioned that they were very satisfied with the schools’ responses.

Most of the respondents (52 percent) identified timely opening of schools as the main reason behind satisfaction, followed by progress on school’s education quality (50 percent). Another most pronounced reason was ‘good management committee’ (11 percent). A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 38 Table 7.4: Reasons of satisfaction (percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 258]

All Schools open in time 52.3 Progress on school’s education quality 49.6 Good management committee 19.4 Increase on teaching capacity of teacher 10.9 Books/dress/shoes/slipper/scholarship available 6.2 Improvement in school environment 4.3 Improvement in school infrastructure 3.5 Announce as a modal school 0.8 DK/CS 8.5 Total 155.4

Good service is mostly pronounced reasons of satisfaction. When asked what type of services had improved, most of the FGD participants mentioned the regular opening of school hours along with the increased attendances of teachers. “Teachers now come at 10 am” (FGD with Dalit women in Sarlahi, Muslim men in Siraha). Also, adequate number of classrooms was taken as one of the reasons after good service (FGD with Dalit women in Saptari, Muslim men in Siraha, high caste women in Mahottari). An education focal person of Paudeswar in Dhanusha said that community schools, nowadays, were functioning as per the rules and regulation, which was not the case some years ago.

In addition to it, the reasons for the improvement in services were attributed towards greater awareness on the part of parents about government school opening hours and the scholarships that are provisioned. Many of the KII participants noted that general public were now aware of the standard school opening hours and so had been monitoring this. So, attendance of the teachers had improved (KII with a headmaster of Maheshpur Patari in Siraha). In addition to it, a ward chairperson of Mansingpatti in Dhanusha told that quality of education of community schools has become better due to the regular monitoring of the CPG members.

In the FGDs, some of the participants reported that quality of the education in the community schools was weak as compared to private schools (FGD with OBC mixed group in Dhanusha). The OBC mixed group in Dhanusha also said that it would be better if scholarships were provided to all of the children. During the FGD with Janajati men in Sarlahi, they highlighted the lack of toilets in community schools. Most of the participants of the FGD with high caste women in Mahottari expressed that scholarships should be provided to children of all background, not only to that of Dalit background. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 39 7.3 Work Efficiency of the School Teachers

According to the public’s perception, work efficiency of the school teachers had been improved significantly in this year compared to 3 years ago. Situation was similar in all the five districts.

Figure 7.1: Do you think that work efficiency of the school teachers have been improved now compared to 3 years ago? [Base = 258]

No, 2.3 CS/DK, 2.3

Yes, 95.3

A follow-up question was asked to those who said that there were improvements in the work efficiency of the school teachers. The question was: ‘Who do you think has contributed to improve work efficiency of the school teachers?’ About 64 percent mentioned that it was due to NEMAF to happen so. Some 23 percent identified local people for their contribution behind the improvement. Another 20 percent pronounced CPGs (which were formed and trained by NEMAF) for this to happen. Also, elected representatives were identified by 11 percent as the main reason.

Figure 7.2: Sources of contribution to improve work efficiency of the school teachers [Base = 246]

Elected

0.6

Group, 19.9

NEMAF, 64.2 Local people, 23.2

Overall, the findings from the survey, KIIs and FGDs reveal that even though the education services are still weak despite some improvements in the efficiency of the school teachers, the roles played by NEMAF and its CPGs were identified as being important factor for making community schools operate under rules and

A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A regulations. 40 CHAPTER 8 PUBLIC’S PERCEPTION ON THE RIGHTS

8.1 Confidence to Exercise Rights

In the context of rights, the survey asked all the respondents what the first thing was that came to your mind when the word ‘rights’ was used. The respondents were allowed to mention more than one answer. Most of the people (43 percent) mentioned a right to go to a health post for medicine, indicating that health facility was the major concern. Also, a right to go to a ward office to request things was identified by 38 percent. Some 32 percent said that they first understood a right as a right to go to a school to monitor, followed by village rules (13 percent) and constitution (13 percent). Also, it is worthwhile to note that about 34 percent professed ignorance in this regard.

Table 8.1: When the word ‘rights’ is used, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 400] All Rights to go to a health post for medicine 43.3 Rights to go to a ward office to request things 37.5 Rights to go to a school to monitor 31.5 Village rules 13.3 Constitution 12.5 Human rights 10.8 Peace 10.3 Law 6.5 Conflict 5.0 Partition of ancestral property 3.5 Violation 0.8 Rights of ward office 0.3 Rights of women 0.3 CS/DK 33.5 Total 208.8 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 41 The respondents were also asked about the sources of rights. The question asked was: ‘Where do these rights come from?’ More than half of the respondents (58 percent) said that it came from the government. Some 29 percent mentioned that it come from the constitution, followed by those who mentioned ‘from the laws’ (19 percent) and ‘from the village traditions’ (13 percent). Some 8 percent identified police as the source of rights.

Figure 8.1: Where do these rights come from? (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 400]

180 167.8 160 140 120 100 80 57.8 60 34.8 40 29.3 19 13 8.3 20 3.5 1.3 1 0

Most of the respondents (40 percent) professed ignorance with the idea of human rights. About 32 percent were familiar with it a little. Only 9 percent were very much familiar with it. About 20 percent explicitly said that they were not familiar with it. More respondents of Siraha seemed to be very much familiar with the idea of human rights compared to other districts.

Table 8.2: Are you familiar with the idea of human rights? By district [Base = 400]

All Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi Very Much 9.0 11.3 16.3 3.8 11.3 2.5 A little 31.8 10.0 33.8 37.5 60.0 17.5 Not Familiar 19.8 17.5 28.8 28.8 13.8 10.0 CS/DK 39.5 61.3 21.3 30.0 15.0 70.0 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

NGO meetings and radio were the primary sources of information through which most of the respondents had the opportunity to hear about human rights (55 percent and 44 percent respectively). TV was another important source of information about human rights. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 42 Figure 8.2: When have you had the opportunity to hear about human rights? (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 163]

160 148.5 140 120 100 80 55.2 60 44.2 40 20.9 20 9.8 7.4 5.5 5.5 0

Only a third of the respondents said that they had heard about constitutional rights. Another 27 percent professed ignorance in this matter. Going by district, proportion of the respondents from Mahottari (70 percent) who said they had about constitutional rights was the largest, while this proportion was lowest in Sarlahi (21.3 percent).

Table 8.3: Have you heard about constitutional rights? By district [Base = 400]

All Saptari Siraha Dhanusha Mahottari Sarlahi Yes 36.0 23.8 32.5 32.5 70.0 21.3 No 37.0 25.0 57.5 47.5 28.8 26.3 CS/DK 27.0 51.3 10.0 20.0 1.3 52.5 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Like in human rights, NGO meetings, radio and TV were the primary source of information through which people had had the opportunity to hear about constitutional rights.

Figure 8.3: When have you had the opportunity to hear about constitutional rights? (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 144]

160 150 140 120 100 80 63.2 60 44.4 40 25.7 20 6.9 5.6 0.7 3.5 0 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 43 The survey revealed that primarily NGO supports, new constitution and elected authorities gave the people confidence toward the rights they had. However, it is worth-mentioning that about 50 percent of the people had no idea in this matter.

Table 8.4: What gives you confidence toward the rights you have? (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 400] All NGO support 23.8 By new constitution 16.5 By elected authorities 14.5 Different community groups 5.0 Public authority 3.8 By elections 3.3 Community collaboration 2.0 Different activities 0.5 CS/DK 49.5 Total 118.8

The survey also disclosed that lack of support from community groups, lack of NGO support and negative behaviour of service providers were the major causes that reduced public’s confidence toward the rights they had. But, it is worthwhile to mention that almost 47 percent professed ignorance on it.

Table 8.5: What reduces your confidence toward the rights you have? (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 400] All Lack of support from community groups 27.8 Lack of NGO support 21.8 Negative behaviour of service providers 15.5 Negative behaviour of police 12.5 Negative behaviour of political parties 12.5 Discrimination at health posts 11.0 Discrimination in schools 8.0 Uncertainty about the laws 5.5 Negative behaviour of elected representatives 4.5 CS/DK 46.5 Total 165.5

The survey found that about 51 percent of the citizens reported that everyone in their community enjoyed the same rights equally while about 9 percent said that everyone in their community did not. Remarkably, 40 percent professed ignorance in this regard.

Amongst those who said that their community did not enjoy the same right equally, half of them mentioned that it happened so due to different gender. Some 37 percent A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 44 said so due to different educational status. Different political party affiliations and different income status also pronounced highly (24 percent for each of them).

Figure 8.4: If no, what makes it unequal? (Percentages are based on multiple responses) [Base = 38]

60 50 50

40 36.8

30 23.7 23.7 18.4 20 10.5 7.9 7.9 7.9 10 5.3 2.6 0

8.2 Public’s Concerns about Rights

Whenever talk about rights, most of the people’s greatest concern was education (40 percent) followed by heath (12 percent). But it is important to mention that almost 37 percent said that they could say or did know about it.

Figure 8.5: What is your greatest concern, if any, about your rights? [Base = 400] 45 39.5 40 36.8 35 30 25 20 15 11.5 10 7.9 4.5 5 3.3 2.8 0.8 0.5 0.3 0.3 0 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 45 About 43 percent of the respondents also told that they were now more concerned about their rights in the last 3 years. Another 20 percent said that their concern was the same. However, about 37 percent professed ignorance on this issue.

Figure 8.6: Has this concern changed in the last 3 years? [Base = 400]

CS/DK, 37.3 Yes, I am more concerned, 42.5

Yes, I am less concerned, 0.3 It's the same, 20

About a third of the people think that the state (government, elected representatives, courts) respects the rights that they care about. However, another 38 professed ignorance in this matter.

Figure 8.7: Does the state (government, elected representatives, courts) respect the rights that you care about? [Base = 400]

Yes, very much, 32.8 CS/DK, 37.5

No, 3.5

Yes, to some extent, 26.3

More than half of the respondents (54 percent) think that state’s respect has improved in the last 3 years. However, it is worthwhile to mention that about 41 percent professed ignorance in this issue. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 46 Figure 8.8: Has the state’s behaviour changed in this regard in the last 3 years? [Base = 400]

CS/DK, 40.8

Yes, the respect has improved, 53.8

No, 3.5

Yes, there is less respect, 2

More than half of the respondents (52 percent) feel that the state treats everyone equally. But a huge proportion (40 percent) professed ignorance in this regard.

Table 8.6: Do you feel that the state treats everyone equally? [Base = 400] All Yes 52.3 No 7.8 CS/DK 40.0 Total 100.0

More than half of the respondents (52 percent) said that the state’s behaviour has changed with regard to treating everyone equally and there is more equality now. However, a significant proportion (42 percent) professed ignorance in this regard.

Figure 8.9: Has the state’s behaviour changed in this regard in the last 3 years? [Base = 400]

CS/DK, 41.8 Yes, there is more equality, 51.5

No, 4.5 Yes, there is less equality, 2.3 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 47 Overall, the survey revealed that the meaning of the word ‘rights’ to the people was basically a right to go to a health post for medicine, a right to go to a ward office to request things and a right to go to a school to monitor. Most of them identified the government, the constitution and laws as the sources of rights. Unfortunately, most of the people were ignorant with the idea of human rights and constitutional rights. However, the people who were acquainted with these rights mentioned NGO meetings, radio and TV as the main sources of information from which they heard of them. Education and health were the people’s greatest concern when they thought about rights. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 48 CHAPTER 9

CONCLUSION

The Perception Survey revealed that the SVAG project had contributed effectively towards improving timely delivery of services and accountability of the service providers in its programme VDCs. Proportion of the people, who opined that the service providers delivered services on time, was very high. Similarly, a huge proportion of the people expressed that accountability of the service providers had improved. Most importantly, the people had explicitly mentioned NEMAF and its CPGs as the main reason behind these improvements. More public thought that there was no discrimination based income class, caste, ethnicity, untouchability, religion, gender, region and party affiliation from traditional authorities, government officials and elected local politicians. The staffs of the service providers also agreed that their knowledge and skills had been improved due to NEMAF’s intervention. These findings showed that the project was quite effective and on the right track.

A huge majority of the people were satisfied with service provided by ward offices. Most of them had got the health services as their needs in this year. Many of them had not faced any difficulties in schools when they visited there. These indicated that accessibility of the general public to basic services was very satisfactory. The public’s awareness toward social, audit, public audit, public hearing, citizen charter and integrated plan formulation process had increased now compared to 3 years ago. However, a scale of the increment was not satisfactory since a significant proportion of the people still had not known about these mechanisms and tools. However, those who had known about them had credited to NEMAF and its CPGs for their awareness.

However, it was not exciting to find the low proportion of the people who thought that everyone in their community enjoyed the same rights equally. This is a matter of a great concern. Only a few people, at the moment, think that the state and its apparatus respect the rights of the people.

The survey also revealed that local people did not prefer complain officially even if

they had complaints about quality of services delivered by the service providers. They OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 49 liked to complain orally only, but not interested to record their complaints formally. However, the people who had registered the complaints (even though their number was very small) found their complaints satisfactorily addressed by the concerned institutions.

Unfortunately, it was also found that a significant proportion of the CPG members had not attended social programmes organized by the CPGs. They were unaware of the CPGs’ activities. It was really a sad to find that there were still a big proportion of the CPG members inactively staying out of NEMAF’s interventions. This ultimately indicated that the project’s intervention with the CPG members was not enough and effective. In spite of some weaknesses, the model of the project has a high potentiality of replication in other areas of the programme districts. If to say overall, the project succeeded to achieve its goal. A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 50 REFERENCES

Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). 2012. National Population and Housing Census 2011: National Report. Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics

CBS and the World Bank. 2013. Nepal: Small Area Estimation of Poverty 2011 (Summary and Major Findings). Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics and the World Bank

CBS. 2014a. Population Monograph of Nepal: Volume I (Population Dynamics). Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics

CBS. 2014b. Population Monograph of Nepal: Volume II (Social Demography). Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics

CBS. 2068 BS. Nepalma Garibi (Nepal Jiwanstar Sarvekshan-Tesro 2066/67 Ma Aadharit Sankshipta Pratibedan). Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics

HURDEC. 2016. Annual Review of Strengthening Voice and Accountable Governance in the Mithila Belt of Madhesh/Tarai. Lalitpur: Human Resource Development Centre

Nepal Madhesh Foundation (NEMAF). 2015. Strengthening Voice and Accountable Governance in the Mithila Belt of Madhesh/Tarai.Lalitpur: Nepal Madhesh Foundation

NEMAF & HCR. 2017. Tracking Local Governance and Access to Basic Services: An Analysis of Public Perception across Former 30 VDCs of 5 Districts of Mithila Belt in Madhesh/Tarai.Lalitpur: Nepal Madhesh Foundation A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 51 ANNEX

Annex-1: Geographical Distribution of the Sampled Respondents

Number of the Sampled Respondents by District and VDC

District New Structure Former VDC Number Mahadewa rural municipality Dadha 20 Tirhut rural municipality Goithi 20 Saptari Rajbiraj municipality Maleth 20 Rupani rural municipality Raypur 20 Laxmipur Patari 20 Maheshpur Patari 20 Siraha Laxmipur Patari rural municipality Pipara Pra. Dha. 20 Pokharbhinda 20 Aurahi rural municipality Paudeswar 20 Janakpur sub-metropolitan city Mansingpatti 20 Dhanusha and Hanspur municipality Tarapatti Sirsiya 20 Mithila Bihari municipality Thera Kachuri 20 Ekdara rural municipality Kolhuwa Bageya 20 Nainhi 20 Mahottari Jaleshwar municipality Pigauna 20 Matihani municipality Simardahi 20 Kabilashi 20 Kabilashi municipality Pipariya 20 Sarlahi Pidari 20 Haripur municipality Farhadwa 20 Total 20 VDCs 400 A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 52 Annex-2 Groups of the FGDs and the KIIs

Groups of FGDs in the Five Districts

District Group VDC Gender 1. Dhanusha Other Backward Class Thera Kachuri Both 2. Mahotari High Cast Pigauna Female 3. Sarlahi Janjati Pipariya Male 4. Siraha Muslim Laxmipur Patari Male 5. Saptari Dalit Raypur Female

Groups of KIIs in the Five Districts

Name Designation District Location/Former VDC Mr. Sarobar Kamad Local political leader (male) Saptari Dadha Ms. Asha Devi Yadav Local social activist (female) Saptari Maleth Mr. Sukhilal Yadav School headmaster Siraha Maheshpur Patari Mr. Saroj Mandal Health post in-charge Siraha Pipara Pra. Dha. Mr. Kameshwor Kapar Ward chairperson Dhanusha Mansingpatti Mr. Ram Swarup Yadav Education focal person Dhanusha Paudeswar Ms. Marchhiya Devi Mahara Local political leader (female) Mahottari Nainhi Ms. Sinaiya Devi Paswan Ward member (Dalit women) Mahottari Kolhuwa Bageya Mr. Binod Kumar Jha Health focal person Sarlahi Kabilashi Mr. Suresh Danuwar Municipality executive officer Sarlahi Farhadwa A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 53 Annex-3: The Survey Team from Himalaya Comprehensive Research

Team Leader Mr. Pawan Kumar Sen Research Manager Ms. Sirjana Shah Field Manager Mr. Krishna Prasad Ligal Mr. Hari Shankar Prasad Chaudhary Qualitative Researchers Mr. Gajendra Prasad Mandal Programmer and Data Analyst Mr. Bhola Prasad Koirala Ms. Lalita Sah Field Supervisors Ms. Nilam Singh Ms. Ranjana Kumari Sah Ms. Punita Kumari Sah Mr. Ranjit Kumar Mahato Mr. Santosh Kumar Yadav Enumerators Ms. Rinku Yadav Ms. Babita Mahato Mr. Subodh Ram Mr. Mandev Chaudhary Mr. Shubham Shrestha Data Entry and Scrutiny Assistants Mr. Tikaram Basnet Ms. Anu Bista A PERCEPTION ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES IN MITHILA BELT OF MADHESH/TARAI BELT IN MITHILA BASIC SERVICES ACCESS TO AND GOVERNANCE PERCEPTION ON LOCAL A 54