Bihar seeks inputs

into its 12th Plan - see here. And here for the Government of Bihar's impressive website 

Reporting impact? Be specific

David Mckenzie recommends that when reporting impact, The World Bank Group ought to move away from throwing out numbers as -

Data from IFC clients across all regions shows 2.4 million jobs provided in 2010, of which 665,000 were jobs for women

In 2009, our clients provided 2.2 million jobs, including nearly 514,000 in the manufacturing and services sectors

to more specific, evidence-based reporting such as -

Land titling reform in Rwanda increased female land ownership and tripled the proportion of women who invested in their land through soil conservation.


A pilot program in Jordan found job vouchers quadrupled the share of married graduates in employment 8 months after graduation (see page 301 in the WDR, ongoing work is measuring the longer-term impacts).

Cambodia's scholarship program, supported by the World Bank, increased school attendance rates of adolescent girls by about 25 percentage points.

In doing so, he makes several good points about why the present 'impact' statistics are not just misleading, but also quite inaccurate. Not to pull up the bank on this one, it really is the standard mode for reporting impact. Its not very unlike the hordes of NGO signboards one sees in poor communities. Any change to status quo is definitely welcome.

On 'conflict of interest' among India's cabinet ministers

In this piece for livemint, Doug and I make reference to the need to take 'conflict of interest' of politicians and policymakers seriously. So while there are rules that restrict legislators from holding 'offices of profit' under the state and central government, there is no rule that restricts them from having direct financial stakes in companies. A couple of examples to illustrate - and since I draw only from the recent public disclosure by cabinet ministers, this is surely just a snapshot.

Take everyone's favourite target (entirely justifiably so, of course) Sharad Pawar's voluntary disclosure, for instance which shows Pawar's stakes in over twenty different companies - including ones involved in mining and agro-industries, including some owned by his family - that may have a bearing on his role as Minister for Agriculture in the Union Cabinet. His involvement with Indian Premier League as BCCI honcho and stakes in the Pune and Bangalore teams is already well known - and his recent interventions to object to proposals bringing BCCI under RTI were stridently vocal and successful.

Another example - Mr. S. Jagatahrakshan, the current Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has disclosed that his son and daughter own shares worth over INR 3.2 crore in Pranav Communications Pvt Ltd., a media company with interests in licences from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting! Possibly an unfair insinuation - but this minister's assets grew by 1092% from INR 6 crore in 2009 to INR 70 crore as per the latest disclosure.

Clearly, politicians have a right to secure their livelihood and insisting that neither they nor their families have profitable investments is probably not fair. But how can we ensure that such cabinet ministers carry out their ministerial functions impartially and in the best intrests of the country?

Restraining corruption without restraining democracy

We, and many others, breathed a collective sigh of relief when, two weeks ago, Indian politicians resolved the Anna crisis by doing what politicians do best: placating an angry public through high minded rhetoric and vague commitments. No doubt they will find a way out of fulfilling these already weak commitments. Or, at least, we hope they will. As horrible an affliction as corruption is, it is no excuse for violating the constitution and the democratic ideals of the country. Nor, for that matter, is it grounds for doing away with private enterprise as some have suggested. (For all the money lost in the 2G scam would anyone seriously prefer that we go back to the old days in which a single state-run company controls all telephone services?)

Fortunately, there are remedies for the sickness of corruption that don’t involve killing off the patient. Recent debate over corruption has focused largely on what form the new anti-corruption body – Lokpal – should take in order to punish the corrupt and to act as a credible deterrent. The activism surrounding the Jan Lokpal bill has mostly resorted to high decibel rhetoric, such as calls to gherao politicians’ residences, demands to hold a referendum etc – which we feel sets a dangerous precedent for constitutional democracy in our country. While punishing the corrupt is certainly an important component of controlling corruption, it is only part of the solution. If we are to have a real impact on corruption we must not only punish offenders but also reduce the incentive for people to engage in corruption in the first place and make it easier for the media, courts, and even ordinary citizens to spot and call attention to instances of corruption. In the high pitched battle over the Lokpal, there are a few basics that the public debate seems to be missing at the moment.

In this piece, we mention a few ways we can restrain corruption without restraining democracy:

- Excerpt from our piece published on livemint

A Little Comedy Relief

Some sober words from one of India's leading politicians:

The Indian history is a witness that casteism and communalism have never done any good to society.

Source. Perhaps Modi is inspired by this example.

Ideas for next year's summer

Chris Jeon, a 21-year-old university student from Los Angeles, California,shrugging cooly, declared: “It is the end of my summer vacation, so I thought it would be cool to join the rebels. This is one of the only real revolutions” in the world. In a daring, one might even say foolhardy, decision two weeks ago, Mr Jeon flew on a one-way ticket from Los Angeles to Cairo. He then travelled by train to Alexandria and by a series of buses to the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. From there, he hitched a ride with rebels heading west towards the Libyan capital of Tripoli. After a 400km (248-mile) trek across the desolate North African landscape, he was now in the town of An Nawfaliyah, the toast of his comrades and a newly anointed road warrior...

...As with most students, money is a concern. He did not buy a round-trip airplane ticket, he explained: “If I get captured or something, I don’t want to waste another US$800 [Dh2,900].”...

Bravo!

Next year, if anyone is short of options, or are looking for something uber-cool to do - remember, you can always join the revolution next door.

Full article here; H/T: Chris Blattman

Juggling dual lives

Fun NYT story about Isaac Osei, a taxi fleet owner in New York, who is also a chief in the Eastern Region in Ghana - ends with two great quotes from his wife

“They spoil you,” Ms. Osei said of her husband’s staff members in Ghana. “When you get to J.F.K., they don’t pick up your suitcases.”

“When I get to Africa, I have to worship him,” she said with a hint of frustration in her voice and a broad, mischievous smile. “When I get back, he has to worship me.”