By Namita Devidayal

The Times of  India, Mumbai, March 28, 2000

Why are we not surprised? A recent survey, in which citizens were asked to rate their civic services revealed that while waterworks and traffic are fine, environment and sewage-related facilities are in bad shape.  THese and other survey findings, garnered from mroe than 3,500 people in the city's 23 civic wards, will be released on Tuesday afternoon by Union minster Arun Shourie and former cabinet secretary B.G. Deshmukh.

The survey, titled ' Project Performance', wwas conducted by ORGMARG for Praja, a voluntary organisation committed to bring about accountability in public governance - particularly in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which his widely perceived to be an unresponsive and corrupt body.  Praja had earlier developed the Citizen's Charter, a user-friendly directory of information on public services, which also included a clear guide on what to expect from various BMC departments, and how to  file a complaint.

" We want to build up contnuous pressure on both the elected representatives and the administration, to keep them on their toes," says Nityai Mehta, a mmber of Praja, adding that this survey will now be held every six months.  " There is no other standard in place to measure the performance of either politicians or bureaucrats. Since the private sector constantly relies on surveys to get feedback and meet the demands of the consumer, we see no reason why we cannot apply the same model to the government."

Adds Praja membr and survey coordinator Sunil Alva, "To our surprise, people did not come down too hard on the BMC.  The categoris of 'good' always exceeded those of 'poor' and 'average'.  This is probably because people don't like to take strong stands, even though they may not be happy with the services.  It may also be part of our 'chalta hai' culture."  Forthcoming surveys, which Praja hopes to conduct every six months hereafter, will poll citizens will be surveyed against benchmarks, as distinct from merely their perceptions, says Mr Mehta, who is the son of the late Madhu Mahta, a well-known social activit.  "For instance, how many people even know that you are supposed to get your death or birth certificate within three days?"

The survey revealed a dismally low level of awareness among citizens with respect to their elected representatives (corporators, MLAs and MPs).  Praja members noted that the growing apathy towards political respresentatives, and the lack of interest in holding them accountable, was a cause for concern in a healthy democracy.

Wards A (Fort-Cuffe Parade) K-west (Santacruz-Juhu) and C (Mohammad Ali Road) were given the lowest ratings with regard to public services.  However, this could also be because citizens living in these areas are more active and have higher expectations of their wards offices.  Wards L (Powai, Chembur, Vikhroli), G-south (Worli) and F-south (Lalbaug, Sewri) were given the highest ratings.  

" We are going to start incentivise this movement by giving awards for the best ward in the future," says Mr. Mehta.  Praja is also going to coordinate with other civic activist groups like Agni (which seeks action for good governance and networking in India) to hold periodic public meetings whith elected representatives and discuss progress reports in different areas.