What Makes People Satisfied with Local Government Service Delivery: An Empirical Investigation in the Context of West Bengal, India

Abstract

In the changing paradigm of governance and public policy sphere, the importance of local-level governance institutions and expectations from them in delivering services has increased in the recent past. The present study analyses the framework of delivery of basic services. It attempted to measure the delivery and satisfaction out of service delivery by developing indices following the data-driven weightage method. Based on users’ feedback, it attempts to examine how the satisfaction from services from local government varies according to household characteristics. Four basic services from local government viz. drinking water, roads, sanitation and public health are evaluated on the basis of four objective parameters viz. availability, accessibility, reliability and quality. Along with, level of satisfaction over services delivered have been assessed subjectively based on feedback. Regression method used to identify the determinants of satisfaction. The findings suggest that apart from the level of service delivery, the intrinsic household characteristics make people satisfied. The study identifies the possible presence of clientelism in service delivery. The study suggests redesigning policy to create space for citizen engagement for coproduction and reduce clientelism in service delivery by local government.

Keywords: Citizen Feedback, Clientelism, Co- Production, Local Government, Public Service Delivery, Satisfaction

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