Bihar's Har Ghar Nal ka Jal project aims to provide every household with piped water. In 2017, implementation was decentralised to elected ward members. But in wards where water quality required treatment, the state's Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) took over. Then in 2023, PHED was given responsibility for all wards, on the claim that ward members lacked the expertise.
This brief tests that claim. Using village-level data on piped water access and econometric analysis, we find the opposite: wards implemented by PHED have 7.9%–21.8% fewer water connections than those run by ward members. Had ward members retained responsibility across the board, an estimated 1.77–4.36 lakh additional households would have had access to piped water by 2020.
The implication is clear: PHED should continue to provide technical expertise on water quality, but placing implementation in the hands of elected ward members leads to greater access and deepens local accountability in the process.
Who delivers public services better — state agencies or elected local representatives? This brief brings data to a question that was settled by assumption.
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