Improving Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Services : Advisory Note
The purpose of this report is to distill lessons learnt for improving Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) services in India, by reference to the recent WSS business plans prepared for the three states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Haryana and from va...
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| Format: | Other Urban Study |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/12-0/-0/16498867/india-improving-urban-water-supply-sanitation-service-provision-vol-2-2-advisory-note http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11901 |
| Summary: | The purpose of this report is to distill
lessons learnt for improving Water Supply and Sanitation
(WSS) services in India, by reference to the recent WSS
business plans prepared for the three states of Maharashtra,
Rajasthan and Haryana and from various studies carried out
by the World Bank on international good practices in urban
water service delivery. The report culls out the core
elements of the WSS reform program and proposes how such
reforms might be implemented. The intended audience for this
report is policy makers at the national and state levels,
sector professionals and practitioners. The report
identifies the key elements of a state-wide program for
improving WSS services and accountability on the basis of
the following three pillars: i) policies and institutions:
appropriate policies and institutional arrangements that
clarify the roles and responsibilities of key actors, and
which create service providers that are efficient,
accountable and customer focused with sufficient autonomy to
manage their affairs in a professional manner; ii)
infrastructure and financing: medium term infrastructure
development program with appropriate financial frameworks
that encourage service providers to rely increasingly on
user fees and, later on, loans as their main sources of
financing. Any subsidies within that framework should be
provided in a targeted and transparent manner to support
government policies; and iii) capacity building for
professional services: ensuring well trained, knowledgeable
and motivated staff to deliver the services in a high
quality manner. To put the sector in context, the report
begins by summarizing the results of various international
studies undertaken over the last several years by the World
Bank to better understand the makings of well run public WSS
companies. These findings point towards the need to
establish sectors which encourage the development of
autonomous, accountable and customer oriented service
providers. Within that framework the report provides
suggestions on practical steps that can be taken by
governments and service providers. |
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