Rules vs. Responsiveness: The Challenges of Building State Capability in India

Published: June 28, 2018, 2:30 p.m.

b"Public organizations often have trouble implementing the policies and programs that will benefit the state and its constituents and the public sector in India is no exception. The perception of the state\\u2019s capacity to implement policy is often called into question so how can civil servants in India overcome the barriers they face to policy implementation?\\n\\nToday on CID\\u2019s Speaker Series podcast, Salimah Samji, Director of the Building State Capability Program at CID interviews Yamini Aiyar of the Centre for Policy Research, who provides first-hand details on culture within the public sector in India. Salimah and Yamini further examine India\\u2019s state capabilities and discuss remedies that could improve decision-making processes within the government. \\n\\nYamini Aiyar is the President and Chief Executive of CPR - the Centre for Policy Research - one of India\\u2019s leading public policy think tanks. Her research interests are in the field of social policy and development. In 2008, Yamini founded the Accountability Initiative at CPR. Under her leadership, the Accountability Initiative has produced significant research in the areas of governance, state capacity and social policy.\\n\\n// www.bsc.cid.harvard.edu //\\nInterview recorded on June 6th, 2018.\\n\\nAbout Yamini Aiyar: Yamini Aiyar is the President and Chief Executive of CPR. Her research interests are in the field of social policy and development. In 2008, Yamini founded the Accountability Initiative at CPR. Under her leadership, the Accountability Initiative has produced significant research in the areas of governance, state capacity and social policy. It pioneered a new approach to tracking public expenditures for social policy programs and is widely recognised for running the country\\u2019s largest expenditure-tracking survey in elementary education. Yamini\\u2019s own research on social accountability, elementary education, decentralisation and administrative reforms has received both academic and popular recognition. \\n\\nYamini Aiyar is a TED fellow and a founding member of the International Experts Panel of the Open Government Partnership. She has also been a member of the World Economic Forum\\u2019s global council on good governance. Previously, she has worked with the World Bank\\u2019s Water and Sanitation Program and Rural Development unit in Delhi, where she focused on action research aimed at strengthening mechanisms for citizen engagement in local government. Additionally, she was a member of the decentralisation team at the World Bank that provided policy support to strengthen Panchayati Raj (local governance) in India.\\n\\nAiyar is an Alumnus of the London School of Economics, St. Edmund's college Cambridge University, and St Stephen\\u2019s College, Delhi University."