JOIN USPublic services in developing Asian nations are frequently failing to reach the needy, a new study by Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said. It has also recommended improvement to avoid further widening of the region’s already sharp divide between the rich and poor.
“Access to services such as clean water, sanitation, healthcare and schooling is essential for personal wellbeing, economic development, and long-term growth,” said ADB Chief Economist Changyong Rhee. "Empowering communities can certainly improve service delivery, but this needs to go hand-in-hand with a change in the way the state does business.”
The report, "Empowerment and Public Service Delivery in Developing Asia and the Pacific", launched on Saturday at ADB’s 46th Annual Meeting of its Board of Governors, said that the delivery and quality of public services have fallen far behind the meteoric growth rates seen in many economies in the region.
The report examines the challenges that state providers face in delivering quality basic services to low-income groups, and the potential for giving disadvantaged communities more power over service delivery.