West Bengal Drinking Water Sector Improvement Project (RRP IND 49107-006)

CAPACITY ASSESSMENT OF PROJECT GRAM PANCHAYATS

A. Introduction and Purpose of the Assessment

1. The proposed West Bengal Drinking Water Sector Improvement Project, financed by the
Asian Development Bank (ADB), aims to provide safe, sustainable, and inclusive drinking water
services—as per the standards of the Government of India—to about 1.65 million people in
selected parts of the arsenic, fluoride, and salinity affected areas of Bankura, North 24 Parganas
and Purba Medinipur of West Bengal (project districts).1

2. The project preparatory team conducted a detailed assessment and mapping to

understand and capture the key characteristics of the local Panchayati Raj governments (PRIs)—
in particular, the gram panchayats to be supported under the project.2 This note presents the
approach, the methodology of the assessment carried out, results obtained, and broad
conclusions.

3. Operational and financial sustainability at gram panchayat level is the key to the overall
success of the project. Thus, this assessment reviews some of the critical operational indicators,
such as prior experience of managing piped water supply, workforce availability, and financial
governance indicators such as budget utilization and own-source revenue generation. The
mapping and assessment also analyzed project gram panchayats’ capabilities based on their
socio-demographic, gender, institutional, and financial resources and contexts, and ranked them,
overall, as high, moderate, and low, so that an estimate of their overall capacity to sustain the
interventions under the project can be made and capacity building activities tailored accordingly
during the project implementation.

4. Therefore, the main purpose of the assessment was to provide baseline data so the project
consultants and the nongovernment organizations (NGOs) under the project can tailor their
capacity building activities for the project gram panchayats to ensure a sustainable water delivery
service. This note will also assist the executing agency, the Public Health Engineering Department
(PHED) of the Government of West Bengal (GOWB), to write the terms of reference for the project
consultants, particularly the project NGOs engaged to support the gram panchayats and assist
the NGOs to continue the mapping and assessment during the initial project period.

B. Approach and Methodology

5. The assessment was based largely on secondary data available from the Census 2011
and government data from the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation of the Government of
India, Panchayats and Rural Development Department of GoWB, and PHED available in the
public domain.3 Some qualitative data was obtained through field visits and consultations with
gram panchayats. In particular, detailed discussions with three-gram panchayats in North 24
Parganas District also helped in defining and selecting the indicators.

6. The four sets of key indicators—demographic, gender, institutional, and infrastructure

availability—guided by the data availability, were used to capture the local contexts and

1 One block in neighbouring South 24 Parganas district is also included in the project’s North 24 Parganas drinking
water scheme.
2 Gram panchayat is the village-level (first tier) of the local administrative body of the Government of West Bengal.
3 Government of India, Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner. 2011. Census of India.

http://censusindia.gov.in/; Government of West Bengal, Public Health Engineering Department. www.wbphed.gov.in;

Government of West Bengal, Panchayats & Rural Development Department. Gram Panchayat Management System.
www.wbprdgpms.gov.in; Government of India, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. www.mdws.gov.in.
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capabilities of the gram panchayats. The indicators under each of the above categories were
chosen based on their influences on gram panchayat governance and capabilities and are set out
in Table 1.
Table 1: Indicators for Capacity Assessment
Indicators Sub-Indicator Relevance
Demographic Habitations per The spread of the gram panchayat in terms of the number of
gram habitations it covers indicates institutional complexities and
panchayat coordination and collaboration efforts required at the gram
panchayat level for managing services. More habitations require
more outreach efforts.
Population size This indicator shows the size of the beneficiary population that the
gram panchayat serves. More population requires more outreach
efforts
SC/ST Scheduled caste and scheduled tribe population are more
Population and vulnerable than the general population. Literacy levels and
literacy levels differences in literacy between different sections of the population
are key indicators of socio-economic development. Low affordability,
low awareness levels, and possibly low participation in decision-
making processes are some of the characteristics of scheduled
castes, scheduled tribes, and other vulnerable sections of the
population
Gender Female literacy This indicator indicates literacy levels among women.
Gender ratio It is the ratio of the number of females to 1,000 males in a
population
Work It indicates the number of eligible women who participate in work
participation among the total population and includes main and marginal workers.
rate
Institutional Own-revenue This indicator indicates the ability of gram panchayat to mobilize
generation resources locally. This ability can be defined as the willingness to
raise revenues to improve services, setting up mechanisms for
levying and collecting tax, and awareness and monitoring by gram
panchayat to convince the population about taxes in relation to the
provision of services. It is also an indicator of the progressive nature
of the gram panchayat to move towards independent local self-
government.
Budget The indicator shows the capacity of the gram panchayat to plan and
utilization manage finances
Workforce This indicator shows the human resources available within the gram
availability panchayats for carrying out program activities
ISGPP Gram This indicator shows the exposure of gram panchayats to externally
Panchayat or funded programs involving participatory processes at the gram
Non-ISGPP panchayat level thereby raising the capabilities of the gram
Gram panchayat to acquire new tools and techniques, and the community
Panchayat awareness and mobilization approaches to engage the population
effectively on programs
Infrastructure Piped water This indicator shows the availability of piped water infrastructure at
supply the gram panchayat level. It also indicates gram panchayats’
coverage exposure to managing piped water supply schemes
ISGPP = Institutional Strengthening of Gram Panchayats Project (Project funded by the World Bank and implemented
through Panchayats and Rural Development Department, West Bengal); SC = scheduled caste; ST = scheduled
tribe.
Source: Government of West Bengal, Panchayats & Rural Development Department. www.wbprd.gov.in.
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C. Scoring Methodology

7. The four key sets of indicators have been assigned weights based on their impact on
governance/capabilities of the gram panchayats. Weights for sub-indicators under the key
indicators have been assigned equally to simplify calculations and eliminate subjectivity, but still
maintain the overall group weight for each of the indicator groups. Table 2 describes the weights
assigned for key and sub-indicators. Scores in the range of 1–3 are assigned to sub-indicators
based on their reported values. A score is then calculated for each indicator and for a set of
indicators, which eventually gives a total score for the gram panchayat. A higher score indicates
higher capabilities requiring less capacity building support and vice versa.

8. A capability score was calculated for the gram panchayats using the indicators shown in
Table 2. The detailed assessments of gram panchayats are presented in Annexure 1 for the
project schemes in Bankura, North 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur and South 24 Parganas.

Table 2: Indicators Matrix and Project Gram Panchayat Assessment Score

Overall Weights for Four sets of
Indicators Score Weight
Demographic 20 20%
Gender 20 20%
Institutional & Financial 30 30%
W/S Infrastructure 30 30%
Total 100 100%

Assigned Group Final

Indicators Score Score Sub Weight Weight Score
Demographic Indicators
D1 Habitations per GP 1–3 3 25% 5
D2 Population Size 1–3 3 25% 5
D3 SC/ST Population 1–3 3 25% 5
D4 Literacy 1–3 3 25% 5
Total 100% 20% 20
Gender Indicators
G1 Female Literacy 1–3 3 33% 7
G2 Gender Ratio (F/M) 1–3 3 33% 7
G3 Female Work Participation Rate 1–3 3 33% 7
Total 100% 20% 20
Institutional Indicators
I1 Per Capita Own Revenue
(₹ /capita) 1–3 3 20% 6
I2 % Untied Budget Utilised 1–3 3 20% 6
I3 % Total Budget Utilised 1–3 3 20% 6
I4 Workforce Availability (%
Positions Filled) 1–3 3 20% 6
I5 ISGPP GP or not 1–3 3 20% 6
Total 100% 30% 30
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Infrastructure Indicators
W1 Habitations with Piped WS 1–3 3 100% 30
Total 100% 30% 30
TOTAL SCORE 100
F = female, GP = Gram Panchayat, ISGPP = Institutional Strengthening for Gram Panchayats Project, M = male, ₹ =
Indian rupees, SC = scheduled caste, ST = scheduled tribe, WS = water supply.

9. Table 3 presents a summary of scores for gram panchayats in the project districts while
Table 4 presents the information in detail.

Table 3: Summary Scores for Gram Panchayats in Project Districts

No. of Gram Panchayats
Gram Panchayats North 24 and
Purba Total
Category Bankura South 24
Medinipur
Parganas
Low Capability 10 0 11 21
Moderate Capability 19 16 7 42
High Capability 2 1 0 3
Total 31 17 18 66
Note: Score < 50: Low Capability; Score 50–75: Moderate Capability; Score >75: High Capability.

10. Resource generation (financial indicator), workforce availability (institutional indicator) and
exposure to piped water supply system (infrastructure indicator) are the three key indicators that
reflect the operational and financial capability of the gram panchayat and are key to driving the
score up or down. A lower score means the gram panchayat is performing poorly in these
indicators and requires relatively significant capacity building in these areas. The scoring also
helped to group the project gram panchayats with similar capacity building needs.
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Table 4: Summary of Scores for Project Gram Panchayats

GP = Gram Panchayat, ISGPP = Institutional Strengthening for Gram Panchayats Project, Infra = Infrastructure, OR
= Own Revenue (Generated), SC = scheduled caste, ST = scheduled tribe, WS = water supply.
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D. Conclusions

11. The assessment was done largely utilizing secondary data and some primary data
collected by the project preparatory consultants. The mapping and assessment analyzed project
gram panchayats’ capabilities based on their socio-demographic, gender, institutional, and
financial resources and contexts, and ranked them, overall, as high, moderate, and low. Such a
ranking helps project stakeholders, especially the project management unit and project
consultants tasked with building their capacities, to give an estimate of their overall capacity to
sustain the interventions under the project, so that capacity building activities can be tailored
accordingly during the project implementation.

12. The assessment helps to gain insights into the resources and functioning of the gram
panchayats and their strengths and weaknesses. The assessment also provides baseline data
so that project consultants and NGOs can tailor their capacity building requirements during the
project period to ensure sustainable service delivery. It will assist PHED in writing the terms of
reference for the project consultants, particularly the project NGOs to be engaged to support the
gram panchayats, and will assist the NGOs to continue the capacity mapping and assessment of
the gram panchayats during the initial project period. The project management unit and project
consultants, including the NGOs, whose task is to provide capacity building for the project gram
panchayats, will be able to use these indicators to understand the impact of their initiatives better
and thus help them in tailoring capacity building appropriately for the gram panchayats during
project implementation.