book setup 2069 nijamati.indd

1. Concept of Public Service Delivery
Delivering public services effectively is the commitment of modern democratic
governments to raise the standard of services and empower their citizens. Public
service delivery (PSD) is a set of institutional arrangements of the government to
provide public goods and services to its citizens. The quality and seriousness of
arrangements influence the performance of PSD. Because of internal and external
factors, most of the States have failed to guarantee the basic demands of the people.
PSD aims to satisfy to the service-seekers by proving effective and efficient service
and gives more emphasis to improve services as well as procedural aspects to receive
them. These aspects are changing profoundly due to technological, organizational,
institutional and other various forces. Governments play important role in controlling
the use of scarce resources so that all the people could have equitable/rational access to
them. Nevertheless, many developing countries continue to suffer from dysfunctional
governance systems including inappropriate allocation of resources of vital public
services. One of the reasons behind this is that the government's move towards by
neglecting the spirit of equity and equality leaving far behind the weaker sections of
the society, i.e., women, children, minorities, down-trodden and marginalized people
as well.
Of late, due to globalization, localization and information revolution people are aware
enough of their right to question on the accountability of their respective government
but measuring the performance of the government especially on PSD is not so easy.
To make it measurable a comprehensive framework is required. Citizens only have
the confidence in their government that it can, among other things, provide them
essential services, such as- physiological requirements, security, territorial integrity,
social services (education, health, and the basic amenities of life) etc. People always
want to see the fulfillment of their requirements promptly in satisfactory standards.
If the government is unable to meet the expectations of its people, it often suffers
crises of legitimacy and protests of internal opposition. However, the government is
desirable as a necessary evil that strongly enough must be accepted for our survival.
The government and its service delivery mechanism have been observed in many
instances almost failing to meet and satisfy the rapidly rising expectation of the people.
Needs, appropriateness and impact have challenged existing bureaucracy and thus
they have brought a refreshing change in the society concerned. Available services
also are left far behind for the lower income people as they are unable to afford
expensive services. However, the poor in most countries are forced to use expensive
goods and services available at market run by the private sector for their survival.
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