Patna, 26 November:Fear of protest discourages leaders from adopting good policies to improve lives. This is what Dr.StutiKhemani, a Senior Economist at the World Bank, feels.

“Reform leaders in a democracy who want to pursue good public policies to transform their economies and improve their peoples’ lives are confronted with the problem of getting myriad government agencies, staffed by thousands of personnel, deliver. Leaders are also constrained in adopting good policies when political opponents organize people to protest against those policies.”Khemani was delivering a research seminar entitled “Political Economy and State Capacity” at ADRI on Tuesday.

Some of the recent studies at the Development Research Group (DECRG) of the World Bank, with which Khemani is associated,have explored how government agencies function, from national and state capitals all the way down to blocks and villages, and provided new ideas for solving these political and capacity problems that reform leaders face.

Speaking in the context of public health, Khemanisuggestedthat encouraging cadres,using mass media to build consensus across socio-economic classes about the value of public spending on child health and nutrition services, energizing Gram Panchayat-level political contestation around public health, and paying regular wages to Community Health Workers might do wonders for public health in Bihar.

Shree Sanjay Kumar, Principal Secretary-Health, presided over the programme. Professor Prabhat P Ghoshintroduced the speaker and welcomed guests on the occasion. Dr.Shaibal Gupta, Dr SunitaLall, Shree Rajesh Jha, Dr.Ashmita Gupta and Dr. Sudhanshu Kumar were also present. 

Theme:

Reform leaders in a democracy who want to pursue good public policies, to transform their economies and improve their peoples’ lives, are confronted with the problem of getting myriad government agencies, staffed by thousands of personnel, to deliver. Leaders are also constrained in adopting good policies when political opponents organize people to protest against those policies. Recent economics research at the Development Research Group (DECRG) of the World Bank, to understand how government agencies function, from national and state capitals all the way down to blocks and villages, provides new ideas for solving these political and capacity problems that reform leaders face. Going forward, ADRI in collaboration with Stuti Khemani, Senior Economist at the DECRG, the World Bank is working on the deeper issues of political economy and the state capacity. The workshop will be a brainstorming session on the research output, related literature and future research.

Shchedule

Chair:Sanjay Kumar, Principal Secretary, Health and Cabinet Secretariat

11:00 am – 11:10 am: Introduction

11:10 am – 12:00 pm: Presentation by Dr.Stuti Khemani

12:00 pm – 12:30 pm: Discussion