Tuesday 9 June 2015

A recent news reported that the ministry of urban development had found that the funds set aside for schemes such as the Rajiv Rinn Yojana, the National Urban Livelihood Mission and the Rajiv Awas Yojana are not being utilized. Critically examine why.

Reports that funds set aside for government schemes are not utilised are nothing new. The reasons behind such a sorry state of affairs are as follows:

1. Improper Policy Formulation - A top down policy approach without wide consultations with the respective stakeholders sometimes leads to a policy which looks good in theory but is impractical in execution.

2. Politically driven Decisions - The 'big' schemes which can impact a lot of people also face the problem of political pressures impacting the decisions. Thus, decisions might solely be taken due to political considerations which are however, not viable or practical.

3. Incomplete Policies - Sometimes while the scheme is announced early, the structure and rules are not defined. This can create unrealistic deadlines which lead to inefficient policies.

4. Lack of incentive for Implementing agency - This is illustrated by the case of Rajiv Rinn Yojana which provides interest subsidy for housing loans. However it could cost a bank upto 25% of the interest. Thus, there is no incentive for any bank to promote the scheme.

5. General Lack of Awareness - While there is a plethora of schemes announced by the government, the intended beneficiaries hardly know about them. This particularly cause demand based schemes to suffer.

In order to really tackle any problem, wide ranging consultations are required between all the stakeholders - the target population, the implementing agencies, the political class etc. Only when there is an appreciation of the requirements and on ground conditions along with acceptability to all the stake holders could any such scheme become successful in its objectives.

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