Democratic Accountability in Local Governance: Experiences from South Asia Democratic Accountability in Local Governance Institutions Experiences from South Asia PRIA Global Partnership 42 Tughlakabad Institutional Area New Delhi – 110062 www.pria.org PRIA Global Partnership Democratic Accountability in Local Governance: Experiences from South Asia Copyright©PRIA, 2011 Readers are welcome to reproduce, free of charge, materials published in this document. We request clear acknowledgement of PRIA Global Partnership (PGP). PRIA Global Partnership i Democratic Accountability in Local Governance: Experiences from South Asia As the countries in South Asia embark upon decentralisation and strengthening of local governance institutions, it is imperative that the accountability mechanisms for these institutions are established, made functional and institutionalised. However, there have been a general dissatisfaction and disappointments with the institutional accountability mechanisms, as they could hardly ensure downward accountability of the local governance institutions to the citizens at large and to the poor and the marginalised in particular. Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and various citizen associations, in the last decade, have come forward not only to demand accountability from these institutions but also innovated a variety of mechanism to hold the elected local governments accountable within the framework of participatory democracy. Such approaches, mechanisms and tools fall under the broad rubric of social accountability. In many South Asian countries, the use of such social accountability mechanisms by the citizens are changing the nature of relationship between the state and the citizen, thereby fostering a new way of looking at citizenship. The current study was undertaken with a view to analyse such experiences from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka so that the lessons could be shared with a range of practitioners and policy makers. The study was undertaken in partnership with PRIA Trust in Bangladesh, South Asia Partnership in Sri Lanka and Pro Public in Nepal. We acknowledge the contributions of these partners in providing support and guidance to the country research process. We deeply appreciate the contributions of Vikas Jha, Programme Manager, PRIA Global Partnership, India who was the main author of the synthesis paper, Sushanta Kumar Sarkar, Programme Officer and Aroma Dutta, Executive Director, PRIP Trust, Bangladesh, Padma Ratnayake, Executive Director, South Asia Partnership, Sri Lanka who authored the country papers and the case studies from the respective countries. We also acknowledge the contributions of social accountability practitioners and elected representatives who provided wealth of information and their meaningful insights during the process of research in each country. We acknowledge the support and guidance provided by Local Governance Initiative (LoGIn) of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to undertake this research study. We are deeply indebted to Rajesh Tandon, President, PRIA, who provided the opportunity and constant guidance to undertake this research initiative. Kaustuv Kanti Bandyopadhyay Director, PRIA Global Partnership PRIA Global Partnership ii Democratic Accountability in Local Governance: Experiences from South Asia Content Page Acknowledgement ii List of Tables, Boxes and Figures vi Acronyms and Abbreviations viii Executive Summary x Synthesis Paper: Democratic Accountability in Local Governance Institutions - Experiences from South Asia 1 1. Introduction 1 2. Methodology 2 3. Democratic Accountability: Historical Backdrop 2 4. Democratic Accountability: Meaning, Enablers, Participation and Inclusion 3 4.1 Meanings of Democratic Accountability 3 4.2 Participation and Inclusion in Democratic Accountability 7 9 5. Experiences of Democratic Accountability in South Asia 11 5.1 Enablers in South Asia 11 5.2 Participation and Inclusion 16 5.3 Impact and Effectiveness of Democratic Accountability 25 6. Challenges in Democratic Accountability 29 7. Conclusions 31 8. Bibliography 33 Country Paper: Bangladesh 36 1. Introduction 36 2. Objectives and Methodology of the Study 36 3. Background 37 4. Types of Democratic Accountability Mechanisms Prevalent in the Country 43 5. Democratic Accountability Mechanisms in Practice 45 6. Comparison of Democratic Accountability Mechanisms 46 7. Dynamics of Citizen Participation 50 8. Stakeholder Opinion 56 9. Constraints and Challenges 58 10. Impact 59 11. Effective and Applicable Democratic Accountability Mechanisms 61 12. Required Measures for Effective Participation in Local Democracy 63 13. Conclusion 66 14. Bibliography 66 Country Paper: Nepal 69 1. Introduction 69 2. Framework and Methodology 69 3. Background 70 4. Horizontal Accountability Mechanisms in Nepal 72 5. Vertical Accountability Mechanisms in Nepal 75 6. Citizens Participation in Vertical Accountability Mechanisms 80 7. Innovative Practices of Democratic Accountability 81 PRIA Global Partnership iii Democratic Accountability in Local Governance: Experiences from South Asia 8. Conclusions 84 9. Recommendations 85 10. Bibliography 86 Case Study 1 - Civic Participation in Budget Preparation and Monitoring Madhainagar, Bangladesh 87 1. Background 87 2. Methodology 89 3. Context of Madhainagar 90 4. Legal and Policy Framework of Local Government Institutions 91 5. Participatory Budget and Community Involvement 92 6. Engagement of Citizens with Local Governance 94 7. Empowerment of Marginalised Communities 95 8. Impact 95 9. Constraints 97 10. Conclusions 97 11. References 98 Case Study 2 - Community Based Monitoring and Health Services, Bangladesh 99 1. Background 99 2. Objectives and Methodology 101 3. Rural Health Structure in Bangladesh 101 4. Policies and Institutional Environment for Health Governance 102 5. Health Scenario in Jangalia Union, Kishoreganj 103 6. Emergence of Social Accountable Mechanisms 103 7. Dynamics of Community Participation 106 8. Interface with Other Stakeholders (political leaders, opinion leaders and local elites) 108 9. Impact 109 10. Conclusion 111 11. References 111 Case Study 3 - Public Hearing as A Democratic Accountability Tool: Use of Good Governance Act in Nepal 113 1. Background 113 2. Objectives and Methodologies 114 3. Governance Gaps in Nepal 114 4. Social Accountability in Nepal 115 5. Good Governance Act: Direct Accountability to Citizens 118 6. Public Hearing as a Democratic Accountability Tool 124 7. Results /Outcomes of Public Hearings 127 8. Impact of Public Hearing 128 9. Constraints of Participation in Public Hearing 129 10. Recommendations 130 11. Reference 130 Case Study 4 - Social Accountability through Community Radio: A Case Study of Selected VDCs in Nepal 131 1. Background 131 2. Purpose, Objectives and Methodology 132 3. Social Accountability Mechanisms in Nepal 132 4. Community Radio and Public Hearings 136 5. Constraints of Community Radio in Encouraging Participation 141 6. Recommendations 142 7. Reference 143 Case Study 5 - Improving Services through Citizen’s Charter: Dambulla, Sri Lanka 144 1. Introduction 144 PRIA Global Partnership iv Democratic Accountability in Local Governance: Experiences from South Asia 2. Background 144 3. The Weakening of the Public Administrative System 146 4. Issues of Corruption 148 5. Reasons for this State of Affairs 149 6. Urgent Need for Change 150 7. The Citizen’s Charter 150 8. Methodology Used in this Study 152 9. A Case Study of an Insider’s Use of the Citizen’s Charter 153 10. The State of other Divisional Secretariats Divisions 155 11. Challenges to the Citizen’s Charter 156 12. References 157 Case Study 6 - Winning Land for the Displaced, Walapane, Sri Lanka 158 1. Introduction 158 2. The Disaster 159 3. The Forgotten Landless 160 4. Local Government Institutional Structures 160 5. The Catalysts 161 6. The Philosophy of APCAS 161 7. Accountability Tools 162 8. The Government’s Version 164 9. Confrontational Action 164 10. The Resolution 165 11. The Present Status 165 12. Observations 165 13. Conclusions 166 PRIA Global Partnership v Democratic Accountability in Local Governance: Experiences from South Asia Tables, Boxes and Figures Page Table 1: Title of the Case Studies 2 Table 2: Methods Used in Preparing the Bangladesh Country Paper 37 Table 3: Representation of Women in Local Governance in Bangladesh 39 Table 4: Profile of Democratic Accountability Mechanisms Prevalent in the Country 44 Table 5: Practiced Accountability Mechanisms in Bangladesh 46 Table 6: The Level and Extent of Citizen Participation 51 Table 7: Participation and Empowerment 54 Table 8: Development Effectiveness of Social Accountability Mechanisms 62 Table 9: Major Steps for Democratic Accountability Mechanisms and Citizen Participation 63 Table 10: Provision of Social Accountability Mechanisms in Guidelines to be Used by the Local Bodies 76 Table 11: Comparison of Social Accountability Tools 77 Table 12: Social Accountability in Nepal 117 Box 1: Audio Citizen’s Charter 13 Box 2: Disaster (Flood) Risk Reduction: Early Warning System in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, India 13 Box 3: India Against Corruption (IAC) Movement – Using Technology for Mobilisation 14 Box 4: Public Hearing on Community Radio – Opportunities for Poor Citizens to Participate 18 Box 5: Citizen Monitoring of Water and Sanitation in Three Cities: (Raipur, Ranchi and Varanasi) India 18 Box 6: The Alternative People’s Tribunal, Sri Lanka 20 Box 7: G-Watch (Naga City), Philippines 22 Box 8: Social Audit in Employment Schemes: