Punjab Service Delivery Assessment : A Decision-Making Tool for Transforming Funds into Improved Services
The Punjab province has seen visible and laudable improvements in the quantum of water supply and sanitation services available to its citizens in the past decades. In the water supply sector, the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets have eith...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Islamabad
2017
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/619481490850055256/Punjab-service-delivery-assessment-a-decision-making-tool-for-transforming-funds-into-improved-services http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26428 |
| Summary: | The Punjab province has seen visible and
laudable improvements in the quantum of water supply and
sanitation services available to its citizens in the past
decades. In the water supply sector, the Millennium
Development Goal (MDG) targets have either already been met
(notably in the rural water sector) or coverage is
significant. In the sanitation sector, the achievements are
less impressive, highlighting it as a neglected sector.
There has also been steady progress in the development of
policy frameworks, using national policies and guidelines as
a touchstone. However, while prima facie progress would
appear to be solid, the study reveals that, in fact,
achievements are fragile, and serious structural issues
threaten to undermine progress in the sector. Further, the
quality of service is assessed as poor, with limited
recourse for customers. Institutional fragmentation,
piecemeal and heavily politicized planning efforts with
little cohesion, and heavy and misdirected subsidies mark
the sector, and negate sustainability. Evidence indicates
that the gains of the past decades are likely to be
reversed, and MDG targets will in fact not be met, should
these issues not be addressed as a matter of urgency. As
Pakistan and Punjab province move towards newly elected
governments, there is an opportunity for spearheading
reform. The 18th Constitutional Amendment has already given
the province control of the sector. An important water Act
lies on the anvil and passing this could put in place the
framework for developing a coherent sector-wide approach,
and provide legal impetus for the creation of a regulatory
authority. This will be an important starting point for
addressing the structural flaws, which currently beset the
sector. This Service Delivery Assessment (SDA) has been
produced in collaboration with the Government of Punjab and
other stakeholders. |
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