Key services fail poor people: World Bank

HYDERABAD: Speakers at a debate on the World Development Report 2004: Delivery of key services like health care and education to poor people would accelerate progress in human development as more public spending by itself will not do it.
"Much of the public spending never reaches poor people. In Nepal 46 per cent of education spending accrues to the richest fifth of the people and only 11 per cent to the poorest.In India, the richest fifth receives three times the curative care subsidy of the poorest."
Regional team leader for the World Bank''s water and sanitation programme in South Asia Junaid Kamal Ahmed said that by increasing poor clients'' choice and participation in service delivery by monitoring and disciplining providers would improve the quality of services.
By raising poor citizens'' voices, through the ballot box and making information widely available would also help improve conditions, he said.
Sector manager in the World Bank''s Europe and Central Asia region Shekhar Shah said that by rewarding the effective and penalising the ineffective delivery of services to poor people would help improve the quality of the services. He said that it was not the question of whether public services or private would help better the amenities and added that the mechanism that delivers the key services by strengthening poor peoples'' ability to monitor and discipline providers would eventually make lives of the people better.
Policy makers in South Asia need to find out what works through rigorous evaluation of the programs and providers need to be given the incentives to provide quality services, he added.