The Process and Shortcomings in Paddy Procurement: A Case Study of Bhandara District of Maharashtra

This paper is a humble attempt in analyzing the presumptions about loopholes in the paddy procurement chain, that were disclosed in several meetings and discussions with the District Marketing Officer and the Additional Collector of district Bhandara in Maharashtra. Paddy passes through several stages from a farm to the mill, under the MSP scheme of the Government. The major aim of the MSP was to extend a welfare hand to the farmers and to protect him from market fluctuations. However, in Bhandara, it was seen that the system of procurement under MSP, was twisted to benefit some major players. It is in resonance with Fred Rigg’s theory of prismatic societies where there are huge gaps between the policy that is envisaged and the policy that is implemented on ground. It was seen that the procurement centers do not comply with rules of grading and fair procurement, the documents submitted by the farmers are not duly attested by the Talathis, there was diversion of poor-quality paddy from nearby states and there also exists a grey market of PDS that undermines the MSP scheme. Attempt was to prove each claim through a set research methodology: aninterview, a survey, a case study or interpretation of primary and secondary data. All data was sourced from the local government officials and the images of some documents were sourced from visits to procurement centers and Talathi offices. Key findings have been shared and some systemic solutions suggested in the end because big bang reforms are not always an answer.

Using participatory action research to improve immunization utilization in areas with pockets of unimmunized children in Nigeria

Background In 2005, Nigeria adopted the Reaching Every Ward strategy to improve vaccination coverage for children 0–23 months of age. By 2015, Ogun state had full coverage (100%) in 12 of its 20 local government areas, but eight had pockets of unimmunized children, with the highest burden (37%) in Remo North. A participatory action research (PAR) approach was used to facilitate implementation of local solutions to contextual barriers to immunization in Remo North. This article assesses and seeks to explain the outcomes of the PAR implemented in Remo North to understand whether and possibly how it improved immunization utilization. Methods The PAR intervention took place from 2016 to 2017. It involved two (4-month) cycles of dialogue and action between community members, frontline health workers and local government officials in two wards of Remo North, facilitated by the research team. The PAR was assessed using a pre/post-intervention-only design with mixed methods. These included household surveys of caregivers of 215 and 213 children, respectively, 25 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in immunization service delivery and 16 focus group discussions with community members. Data were analysed using the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) vaccine hesitancy framework. Results Collaboration among the three stakeholder groups enabled the development and implementation of solutions to identified problems related to access to and use of immunization services. At endline, assessment by card for children older than 9 months revealed a significant increase in those fully immunized, from 60.7% at baseline to 90.9% (p < .05). A significantly greater number of caregivers visited fixed government health facilities for routine immunization at endline (83.2%) than at baseline (54.2%) (p < .05). The reasons reported by caregivers for improved utilization of routine immunization services were increased community mobilization activities and improved responsiveness of the health workers. Spillover effects into maternal health services enhanced the use of immunization services by caregivers. Spontaneous scale-up of actions occurred across Remo North due to the involvement of local government officials. Conclusion The PAR approach achieved contextual solutions to problems identified by communities. Collection and integration of evidence into discussions/dialogues with stakeholders can lead to change. Leveraging existing structures and resources enhanced effectiveness.

Evaluating Young People's Ability to Sustain an Evidence-Based Social Accountability Approach to Improve Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in Ntcheu, Malawi

The Community Score Card© (CSC), a social accountability approach, brings together community members, service providers, and local government officials to identify issues, prioritize, and plan actions to improve local health services. In addition, young people in Ntcheu, Malawi have been using the CSC approach to mobilize their communities to bring change across varying issues of importance to them. An earlier cluster randomized trial in Ntcheu showed the CSC effectively increased reproductive health behaviors, improved satisfaction with services, and enhanced the coverage and quality of services. Building upon this evidence of effectiveness, this study aims to evaluate if and how young people were able to sustain implementation of the CSC, and the improvements it brings, approximately 2.5 years after the randomized trial ended. As part of a larger evaluation of CSC sustainability in Ntcheu, we conducted 8 focus groups across 5 health catchment areas with 109 members of mixed-gender youth groups (58 females and 51 males, ages 14–29 years) who continued to engage with the CSC. Audio recordings were transcribed, translated into English, and coded in Dedoose using an a priori codebook augmented with emergent codes and a constant comparative approach. Although the 8 youth groups were still actively using the CSC, they had made some adaptations. While the CSC in Ntcheu initially focused on maternal health, young people adopted the approach for broader sexual and reproductive topics important to them such as child marriages and girls' education. To enable sustainability, young people trained each other in the CSC process; they also requested more formal facilitation training. Young people from Ntcheu recommended nationwide scale-up of the CSC. Young people organically adopted the CSC, which enabled them to highlight issues within their communities that were a priority to them. This diffusion among young people enabled them to elevate their voice and facilitate a process where they hold local government officials, village leaders, and services providers accountable for actions and the quality of healthcare services. Young people organized and sustained the CSC as a social accountability approach to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health in their communities more than 2.5 years after the initial effectiveness trial ended.

Sharing tacit knowledge in public sector :

Tacit knowledge – experiences, skills, judgment and even intuition of the employees – as organizational resource, has recently gained significant attention from the organizational researchers. While such knowledge is difficult to identify, exhibit and describe, it can often determine the manner in which public administrators implement public policies. Taking a qualitative strategy of enquiry, this paper aims at identifying the pattern of tacit knowledge sharing among the local government officials in Bangladesh. The key findings suggest that majority of the local government officials are aware of the significance of tacit knowledge. Trust, both cognition-based trust and affect-based trust, determine their knowledge sharing behaviour. The ‘senior-junior’ relationship within the hierarchal structure is perceived to be the key channel of tacit knowledge transfer. In the context of inadequate formal sharing channels, officials perceived trainings to be the key formal mechanism of tacit knowledge sharing within public sector organizations in Bangladesh.

The Implementation of Good Governance with a View to Improving the Competence of State Civil Apparatus in the Regional Government

For more than twenty years, reforms that have been going on have mandated the existence of autonomy and decentralization of government to manage their areas and give the broadest possible power to self-determination. The granting of this authority is intended to improve. As one indicator to measure regional autonomy's success, the government will better serve its citizens and guide them towards a better life. The provincial government's performance has not matched the expectations, yet it has not done the community optimally. Increasing the competence of the apparatus to improve the quality of work is a determining factor in local government activities' success. The result of local government officials towards quality performance leads to the development of education, competence, and abilities because of the times' face. The competence that local government officials are expected to have is analyzing and addressing issues within the city under a realistic framework of local government.

Obowiązek dostarczania mieszkań na potrzeby osób wojskowych i cywilnych w latach 1919–1925 w świetle ustawodawstwa i orzecznictwa Najwyższego Trybunału Administracyjnego

The Obligation to Provide Housing for Military and Civilian Use between 1919 and 1925 in Light of the Legislation and Judicial Decisions of the Supreme Administrative Tribunal In connection with the dramatic shortage of residential accommodations in the first years of Polish statehood after the regaining of independence in 1918, the way to guarantee their provision for military personnel (officers and married non-commissioned officers) and civilians (state and local government officials) was a statutory obligation to provide them by means of legal administrative coercion. The aim of this article is to analyse issues relating to the requisitioning of flats, and in particular, to analyse the sources of legislation in this area at that time, and judicial decisions of the administrative court with regard to complaints made to this court in cases concerning these requisitions.