The report, based on 25 sucessful expriments carried out in India in reforming delivery systems and authored by Vikram Chand, the World Bank's senior public sector management specialist, was released here today.
Presenting the report, Chand said: "Nitin Kareer who was appointed as inspector general of stamp duties in mid-1998, initiated reforms by starting a dialogue process to employees and various stake-holders in registration process like property dealers, lawyers, citizens groups, etc., as it is very necessary to find out the exact loopholes in the system before you embark on the path of reform."
After consultation process, Kareer simplified various rules and regulation involved in the process, introduced the concept of delivery standards (it was made mandatory for the sub-registrar's office to return a document within 24 hours), to reduce corruption in calculation of stamp duty value and exhaustive tables (ready recokners) were introduced.
All this has resulted in increasing the revenues of the state government from Rs 1,900 crore in 1999-2000 to more than Rs 5,000 crore in 2005-06. The entire reform process has also earned the department an ISO certification.
Report also lauds the MCGM's complaint redressal system. A non-governmental orgnisation Praja has been given responsibility to act as watchdog and ensure that system works effectively. Nearly 49 per cent of complaints lodged through the complaint are redressed.
This has brought greater accountability and reduced corruption in the corporation, though not to the extent desired, the report observes.
The political leadership's initiative, guaranteed tenures to public servants, the shift towards e-governance, promoting competition among cities or state (the Banglore and Hyderabad rivalry), general political consensus are some of the key elements for reforms to success, said Chand.
Quelle/Source: Business Standard, 18.05.2006
