Governance and local government

This survey, as well as focusing particularly on health and agriculture services, sought information about household perceptions of other government services. It also considered some aspects of the operation of local government at different levels. The aspects considered include coordination between different levels, perceptions of information needs for planning, perceived problems with local services and infrastructure, and suggestions for how to improve matters. As well as household interviews, information about aspects of local government was sought from community focus groups and from officials at different levels, including VDC chairmen, DDC chairmen, DHOs, DAOs and LDOs. Details of the interview responses of officials at different levels are given in Annex 3, but some key points are summarised in the following sections.

 

Source of information about government services

Households were asked where they get their information about government services available locally. Their responses are shown in Table 47.

Table 47. Households sources of information about government services available locally

Information source

Number households (%)

Neighbours

12253 (71)

Radio

6040 (35)

VDC

2451 (15)

Posters

1499 (9)

Written materials

1163 (7)

Television

912 (5)

Family members

678 (4)

FCHV

639 (4)

Other service staff

462 (3)

Schools

326 (2)

Street drama

5 (0)

Nowhere

287 (2)

Up to three answers could be given.

By far the main sources mentioned are neighbours and radio. Information from the VDC is also relatively important, with around one in seven households using this as a source of information about local services.

Opinions about basic services

Household respondents were asked about the availability and quality of basic services in their area. A high proportion of households have access to some sort of service in most sectors (except telephone and electricity services), but only low proportions who have these services rank them as 'good'. This is shown in Table 48.

 

Table 48. Access to basic services and perceptions of quality of services available

Service

No. (%) of households with access

No. (%) with access ranking service as 'good'

Education

18411 (99)

3850 (21)

Water

15891 (86)

2890 (18)

Sanitation

13066 (71)

653 (5)

Post

16321 (89)

3569 (22)

Telephone

7881 (43)

1961 (25)

Roads

3837 (75)

722 (5)

Electricity

5686 (31)

2221 (39)

This perception by households of the quality of basic services, when they are available, is poor indeed. Yet it is similar to the views expressed by District Development Committee (DDC) Chairmen and Local Development Officers, when asked what they thought of the government services provided in the area (Table 49).

Table 49. DDCC and LDO perceptions of quality of basic government services in their area

Service

No. (%) thinking service 'good'

DDCCs

LDOs

Education

4 (15)

7 (21)

Water

0

9 (27)

Sanitation

0

1 (3)

Post

9 (33)

16 (49)

Telephone

4 (15)

12 (35)

Roads

0

1 (3)

Electricity

0

7 (21)

 

Some of the responses of the DDCCs and LDOs could have been influenced by low availability of a service (such as electricity). Households could give a response of 'not available at all' for service quality but the other interviewees gave a response about quality in all cases, so they would presumably rate quality as very poor if the service was not available at all.

Difficulties of providing public services

DDCC and VDCC were asked about the difficulties they face in providing services at district and village levels. The main difficulties mentioned by VDCC are lack of resources and finance, lack of community support and political interference. Key problems for DDCC are lack of resources, poor awareness and bad service delivery from government line agencies. This is shown in Table 50.

Table 50. Main difficulties in providing services mentioned by DDCC and VDCC

Difficulty

No. (%) mentioning difficulty

DDCC

VDCC

Lack of resources

16 (59)

55 (40)

Bad service delivery of line agencies

15 (56)

 

 Lack of information

10 (38)

19 (14)

Lack of VDC or community support

5 (19)

44 (32)

Political interference

3 (11)

30 (22)

Lack of time

1 (4)

2 (2)

Lack of awareness

 

  

Lack technical knowledge

 

11 (11)

Lack of finance

 

 80 (59)

Up to 3 responses could be given

 

Role of VDCs

Respondents were asked about the role of VDCs during the household interview. Their responses about what they think VDCs currently do are shown in Table 51.

Table 51 Household perceptions of activities of VDCs

Activity

Number (% ) households

Construction work

9216 (57)

Nothing

4449 (28)

Coordinate activities

3445 (21)

Sanitation work

1773 (11)

Registration

854 (5)

Collect Tax

477 (3)

Fund teachers

463 (3)

Security

162 (1)

Kill dogs /control animals

20 (0)

Spray insecticide

24 (0)

Up to 3 answers were allowed.

VDC chairmen were similarly asked to about the activities carried out by the VDCs (Table 52).

Table 52. VDC chairmen perceptions of activities of VDCs

Activity

No. (%) chairmen

Construction work

120 (88)

Social development

55 (40)

Daily issues

23 (17)

Financial issues

22 (16)

Set up community groups

14 (10)

Look after old people

5 (4)

Nothing

2 (2)

Up to 3 answers were allowed.

Households and VDC chairmen agree that construction work is a major part of the activities of the VDC. The VDC chairmen give broader descriptions of the work of VDCs, while households mention specific activities.

Household views on activities that should be carried out by VDCs are shown in Table 53. Their priorities - sanitation work, road building and provision of electricity - reflect the services with low access and poor quality at present (see Table 48).

Table 53. Household suggestions for activities that should be carried out by VDCS

Activity

No. (%) households

Build roads

9790 (58)

Sanitation work

9326 (55)

Provide electricity

4255 (25)

Build irrigation

3504 (21)

Coordinate activities

3290 (19)

Construction work

2459 (14)

Fund teachers

1132 (7)

Connect telephone

799 (5)

Arrange health service

787 (5)

Security

124 (1)

Spray insecticide

102 (1)

Registration

60 (0)

Kill dogs/ control animals

34 (0)

Collect Tax

12 (0)

Up to 3 answers were allowed

 

Perhaps it is not surprising that collecting taxes is at the bottom of the list of things that households think VDCs should do. But this poses a problem for VDCs, who need to fund the list of activities, some very expensive, that their communities would like them to do, as shown in Table 53. Clearly some dialogue is needed between VDCs and households in communities about prioritisation of activities and budget setting for the different activities.

Households were asked what they do to help and support the activities of their VDC. Responses are shown in Table 54.

Table 54. Household reports of ways in which they help VDC activities

Activity to help VDC

No. (%) households

Voluntary construction work

13983 (85)

Financial support

5883 (40)

Miscellaneous

1780 (11)

Voluntary teaching

870 (5)

Registration

60 (0)

Security

12 (0)

Up to 3 answers were allowed.

By far the most common way in which community members report they help the VDC is through voluntary construction; more than 4 out of five households say they help in this way.

Priorities at different levels and support between levels

Just under half (43%-59) VDC chairmen said that VDC priorities had been reflected in the DDC's decisions. However, a similar proportion (47% -65) did not think their priorities were properly reflected.

The VDC chairmen were asked how they thought coordination could be improved in order to have local priorities better reflected at district level. More than half of them (62% - 48), suggested that VDCs should be more involved in the DDC decision making process, and 21%(16) of them suggested that DDC members should visit communities and VDCs more.

Support from central to district and to village level

The DDCCs and VDCCs interviewed were asked about that kind of support they receive from the central government and DDCs respectively.

Nearly a quarter of the VDCs reported that they did not receive any support from DDCs. Many of the types of support reported as coming from DDCs to VDCs are distinct from the types of support reported from the centre to DDCs. However, in both cases financial support was rated as important, not surprisingly. Responses about this issue are shown in Table 55.

Table 55. Types of support reported by VDC and DDC chairmen

Type of support

From centre to DDC (%)

From DDC to VDC (%)

Financial

20 (74)

69 (51)

Planning

15 (56)

 

Policy

6 (22)

 

Projects

6 (22)

8 (6)

Training

2 (7)

4 (3)

Supervision

1 (4)

5 (4)

Technical assistance

 

 36 (27)

Materials

 

 36(27)

Political support

 

 2 (2)

No support

1 (4)

30 (22)

Up to 3 answers were allowed.

Opinions about support received

DDC chairmen were asked for their views on the support they received from the central government. Not one of them rated the support as really helpful. About a third of them thought the support was not helpful and 63% of them rated the support as average Their ratings are shown in Table 56. Similarly, VDC chairmen were asked to rate the support they received from DDCs. About 1 in 10 of them rated the support was helpful, but a quarter of them rated it as not helpful (Table 56).

 

Table 56. Opinions about support received by DDCs and VDCs

 

Support from:

No. (%) chairmen rating support:

Helpful

Average

Not helpful

Centre to DDC

-

17 (63)

10 (37)

DDC to VDC

13 (10)

91 (67)

32(24)

Up to 3 answers were allowed.

Gaps between support received and support needed

Services supported in districts by central government fall short of the services that DDC chairmen would like to see supported. The supported services and those felt to need support (or additional support) are shown in Table 57.

Table 57. Services supported by central government and services needing further support, in view of DDC chairmen

Service/activities

No. (%) DDC chairmen reporting:

Support received

More support needed

Finance

20 (74)

13 (48)

Planning

15 (56)

12 (44)

Policy

6 (22)

8 (30)

Projects

6 (22)

23 (85)

Training

2 (8)

-

Supervision

1 (4)

3 (11)

Create awareness

-

5 (19)

Up to 3 answers were allowed.

Mainly the DDC chairmen want further support for activities already supported. However, they particularly want more support for development projects and they also seek support for "creating awareness" or public education, which is not supported at all at present.

 

The support perceived as received by VDCs from DCCs and that perceived as further needed by VDCs are shown in table 58.

Table 58. Services supported by DDCs and services needing further support, in view of VDC chairmen

 

Service/activities

No. (%) VDC chairmen reporting:

Support received

More support needed

Finance

80 (60)

69 (51)

Technical assistance

60 (45)

36 (27)

Consultation

53 (40)

12 (10)

Supervision

17 (13)

5 (4)

Projects

14 (10)

8 (6)

Political support

8 (6)

2 (2)

Training

7 (50

4 (3)

Materials

2 (2)

36 (27)

Up to 3 answers were allowed.

VDCs seem to want more support with capacity building, such as technical assistance, and consultation, as well as finance.

Coordination

LDOs and DDC chairmen were asked if it is easy or difficult to coordinate the activities of different line departments in the district. Their responses are shown in Table 59.

Table 59. Opinions of LDOs and DDC chairmen about coordination of line departments in districts

Person:

No. (%) considering coordination:

Easy

Average

Difficult

DDC chairmen

4 (15)

9 (33)

14 (52)

LDOs

9 (28)

18 (54)

5(16)

Up to 3 answers were allowed.

Clearly, DDC chairmen rate the task of coordination as more difficult than do the LDOs. Perhaps this is because they have more direct responsibility for this sort of coordination of line departments at district level.

Information needed for planning

Information needed

The VDC chairmen were asked what kind information they needed for planning activities in their community. They rated their top requirements as being knowing about the needs of people in the community and having access to technical advice. They also mentioned the need for locally relevant (area) statistics. (Table 60).

Table 60. Information needed by VDCs for planning purposes, in view of VDC chairmen

Type of information

No. (%) VDC chairmen

Needs of the people

56 (43)

Technical advice

56 (43)

Area statistics

38 (29)

Population data

23 (18)

Data on income levels

14 (11)

Data on literacy

2 (2)

Production/livestock data

2 (2)

Health data

2 (2)

Data on children

2(2)

Data on women

1 (1)

Up to 3 answers were allowed.

 

Sources of information

LDOs and VDC chairmen were asked where they presently get information for planning purposes. Community meetings, key informants and self are the three most common information sources at the VDC level. LDOs mostly get information from VDCs, key informants, and line departments at the district level. The information sources are shown in Table 61.

 

Table 61. Information sources for planning, as used by LDOs and VDC chairmen

Source of information

No (%) of respondents:

LDOs

VDC chairmen

Community meetings

-

81 (60)

Key informants

19(59)

73 (54)

Self

-

67 (49)

Informal sources

-

37 (27)

VDCs

26 (81)

-

District departments

13 (41)

1 (1)

From 'people'

9 (28)

-

From NGOs

7 (22)

-

From district profile

5 (16)

-

From the media

4 (13)

-

From women's groups

-

3 (2)

Up to 3 answers were allowed.

From Table 61 it can be seen that VDCs most commonly get their information for planning from community meetings and key informants, neither of which necessarily provide reliable information on the "needs of the people" that VDCs recognise as necessary information for planning (Table 60). There is a need to help VDCs develop sustainable ways of collecting the information from communities they need for planning. Similarly, LDOs rely heavily on VDCs and key informants for their information for planning, and would benefit from the development of systems to provide good community-based data for planning.

 


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