Exploring WASH linkages with e-governance systems for Indian cities
Water and sanitation are one of the most important services provided by the government to its citizens. To provide these services in an equitable and inclusive manner, it is important that informed decisions are made through an accountable and transparent governance. The E-Governances systems are important tools to achieve good governance. While there are platforms as the SBM MIS through which ULBs report some of their sanitation services to the state and central government, not much is known about the systems available to govern the different stages of service provision at the ULB level. As with any service, there are different stages of planning and delivering water and sanitation services such as financing/budget provision, reporting and monitoring of the service within the ULBs, getting consumer feedback/complaint redressal, payments to the private operators etc. While the ICT based systems enables easy monitoring and evaluation, it is often found that many of these stages are carried out through paper-based systems. It is thus important to understand the key stages of service planning and provision at the ULB level, identify the E-governance systems currently used in different states of India and bring forward the best practices and areas for further improvement.
