THE WorldBank IN INDIA VOL 18 / NO 1 JULY 2019 INSIDE Technology for social good 1-4 Development Dialogue: How World Bank is using Information vs insight 5-7 ICR Update: technology for social good in India Odisha Community Tanks Management Project 8-10 Lighthouse India 11-13 Face to Face 14-15 Recent Project Signings 16-18 F rom using drones to plan water supply schemes in hard-to-reach locations, to deploying satellite imagery for enhancing land usage, or using mobile phones to track children’s health, technology is changing New Additions to the Public the way we live. The World Bank is supporting several interventions where Information Center 19-27 new-age technology is being used for social good, giving a new tool to Contact Information 28 policymakers to improve governance and the quality of our lives. Making farmers resilient Digital applications are helping farmers in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh make faster and better decisions on crop planning based on weather conditions, Photo by the World Bank soil and other indicators. “When the [app] shows temperatures of To tackle this, drones have been used to 35-40 degree Centigrade, farmers will wait click high resolution images in high altitudes for cooler temperatures before transplanting and challenging topography in World Bank’s paddy mat nurseries into the field. Otherwise, Shimla Water Supply and Sewerage Service there is a fear of losing crops in high Delivery Reform Project. This, along with temperatures,” says Ramchandra Prasad GIS technologies, has helped the state Verma, a climate smart village resource government prepare a 24x7 water supply professional in the Barachatti block of Gaya model for the city that addresses issues such district in Bihar, India. as pressure management, transmission and distribution networks, and identifying illegal This $12.67 million Sustainable Livelihoods connections. and Adaptation to Climate Change World Bank project that started in 2015 has so far empowered more than 8,000 farmers to Tracking health adopt climate resilient practices. All across India approximately 150,000 Anganwadi workers are using smartphones to Prioritizing interventions track growth and nutrition in children. Photos of the hot lunch served to the children at Satellite images taken from a height of 900 health and nutrition centers, for example, can km in Karnataka capture crucial data like land now easily be shared with block, district and use and land cover, groundwater prospects, state-level officials. soil characteristics etc. When this data is fused with rainfall patterns and literacy rates “It’s easier to work with mobiles than etc., it helps experts and communities to registers,” confessed an Anganwadi worker in prioritize action plans such as those for soil Madhya Pradesh. and water conservation. The World Bank has so far invested about Geographic information system (GIS) $306 million in nutrition through the ICDS technology can also map nutrient deficiencies Systems Strengthening and Nutrition in the soil, which helps with crop planning. Improvement Project. The Karnataka Watershed Development In Chhattisgarh, a mobile based application Project, known locally as Sujala, covered called Nutri-Click provides real time, over half a million hectares of land in seven need-based, one-on-one counseling on predominantly rain-fed districts in Karnataka appropriate nutrition and care practices to between 2001 and 2009 and was the first to pregnant women and caregivers and mothers deploy the use of satellite remote sensing and of young children and their family members. GIS mapping effectively over a large area. The program has so far helped over 4000 pregnant and lactating women. Supplying water in challenging terrain Digitizing medical records Shimla city in Himachal Pradesh gets water Doctors in 36 public hospitals in Tamil Nadu once every two days for a few hours, while can now access, collect and analyze critical bulk water is pumped over 1,400 meters, health data for quick and timely interventions creating a high cost of service. with the click of a button. The system also 2 The World Bank in India • July 2019 12 helps with retrieval of manual records as well doorsteps, as part of World Bank’s North East as maintenance and management of medical Rural Livelihoods Project. equipment, making the entire process These “business correspondents” fan out transparent and convenient. across mountain villages, equipped with The Rs. 597-crore Tamil Nadu Health palm-sized micro-ATMs, biometric readers, Systems Project was active in five Tamil and internet-connected thermal printers. Nadu districts. A second phase will now aim Villagers can now deposit their money to cover another 222 hospitals across the easily, earn interest, and withdraw whenever remaining 25 state districts. needed. e-Governance In the six months since the correspondents were first introduced, business has soared. In 164 municipalities in Karnataka, property “In November 2018, when we first began, owners are now able to calculate their I did about 160 transactions worth Rs.1.2 property taxes online; 10 million birth and million. As awareness has grown, this has death records are now online and searchable; risen steadily, and in March 2019 I did over and over 390,000 citizen complaints were 260 transactions worth Rs. 2.4 million,” lodged over 10 months—98 percent of which explained Lila Shilal, business correspondent were redressed. for the IDBI Bank in West Sikkim’s Jorethang block. Through the Karnataka Municipal Reforms Project, municipal revenues have increased while interface between citizens and local Assessing school administrations has vastly improved. performance The Bihar School Score Card mobile Doorstep banking application assesses school performance by Banks in Sikkim’s western and southern collecting and analyzing data. Using traffic districts have been engaging local women light symbols – green for very good, amber as “business correspondents”, enabling for satisfactory, red for needs improvement people in these distant parts to bank at their – the school scorecard provides an easy 3 The World Bank in India • July 2019 12 way for the community members to track The portal provides detailed records from student and teacher attendance, student more than 13,000 public and private ITIs performance, and provision of basic across the country, including data related to infrastructure such as drinking water, toilets, courses offered, admissions, examinations, and mid-day meals. placements, etc. (Change background colour as needed) The effort is part of the larger World Bank So far more than 150,000 e-certificates to supported Enhancing Teacher Effectiveness past trainees have been issued, and over 2 in Bihar Operation. million certified trainees have received online certificates, saving time and effort. Vocational training World Bank’s Vocational Training Improvement Project has helped digitize activities such as admissions, examination management, and certifications in Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) under the National Council of Vocational Training. 4 The World Bank in India • July 2019 12 Development Dialogue The Learning State: How information becomes insight Knowledge is not gathering mounds of information. It is processing that information and translating it into useable propositions that makes people and organizations learners. Two top development economists show the path to a genuine learning state. Written by Abhijit Banerjee and Shrayana Bhattacharya T ough decisions lie ahead for India’s social protection system. How can unorganized workers be empowered to System (MIS) portals. In fact, in the past two years, the national Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Mission at the Cabinet Secretariat access pensions or other income support reports the development of 400 MISs for programs? How do we make sure that schemes to report payment progress on its benefits from the new PM-KISAN are national DBT portal. This is more than most reaching the intended farmers? The ability middle-income countries. of the state to process and consume The vision is that these systems will enable information to answer such questions for citizens, government officials and politicians program planning, monitoring and reform has to gain access to all the information that always been critical and never more so than they need to play their individual roles in a now. Program administrators need to be able democratic society and enable the necessary to track program performance, learn quickly exchange of knowledge for effective and incorporate lessons into new designs. program implementation. Those managing In the past fifteen years, India has developed food subsidies can monitor the movement an enthusiasm to monitor schemes through of grains via geo-tagged trucks while the hundreds of Management Information MGNREGS MIS informs administrators The World Bank in India • July 2019 12 5 of payment delays and citizens use online Processing the volume of information that a grievance portals to register complaints. CCTV can generate every minute can clog the mind so fast that she needs to take Such information has the potential to be defensive action. extremely valuable. One reason why these investments are happening now is that the Thus, so it is for organizations. It is not cost of collecting and sharing information has enough to generate information—someone gone down enormously over the last decades, has to process and translate data into thanks to the IT revolution. It is possible now something useable, and the more information for a mother at work to watch her toddler play you generate the harder that necessarily in a playschool by connecting her cell-phone becomes—the more to sort through and wirelessly to a CCTV at the school through discard. And if you have no guidance on one of multiple available how to do that sorting, apps. And she might, for then more information may With the growing the first couple of days, but actually hurt. Consistent the novelty wears off fast. complexity and with this, process And then? The app will sit sophistication of India’s evaluations suggest that unused, unless there is a in the wake of the MIS social protection specific concern (say, the expansion, the local child is sick). systems bureaucracy at the district and schemes, building and state level is drowning The problem is that in MIS data, with neither information by itself is not the capability of the the capacity nor the insight; it has the potential local state to learn inclination to process it. for insight. Knowledge and reflect on is not gathering With the growing mounds of information. information is critical. complexity and It is processing that sophistication of India’s information and translating it into useable social protection systems and schemes, propositions—for example, “my child really building the capability of the local state to looks tired, perhaps I should plan to leave learn and reflect on information is critical. early”—that makes people and organizations To build a genuine learning state – a state learners. The mother stops watching the where everyone, citizens, bureaucrats and CCTV feed because she needs to focus politicians use the information they need her mind on other tasks—she already has a to generate insight and hold each other tough time fending off the thousand other accountable, we need three building blocks. distractions that life throws at all of us. First, we need to curate the information that gets highlighted. That does not mean censorship—citizens should be able to access any information that they could reasonably need—but some filters have to go into choosing what to give prominence and why, based on a clear theory of how the information would be used, by whom and why that would matter enough to deserve the priority. This might seem obvious, but both of us have been witness to the many extremely far-fetched theories of change that get used to justify MIS interventions; in particular, the vision of a citizen who gets up in the morning and quickly files a MGNREGS problem report, then tweets about the policeman she observed taking a bribe on her way to work, spends her afternoon responding to a call from a government call-center about 12 6 The World Bank in India • July 2019 PDS delivery and grain quality, followed by used to provide the required intelligence and an evening reviewing the accounts of the insight. Even if the information collected is municipality before turning in (to dream of salient, it may lead to no change in behavior accountability we’re certain), is far-fetched. or local action. For example, the government Even the most committed citizens have many of Karnataka built an ambitious MIS to other life problems to deal with, and activism biometrically track real-time attendance of is at best a part-time activity. nurses at health centers. The pilot hoped to hold front line staff accountable by making Second, we need to have clear designation their attendance transparent. However, of how the information will be used to provide the reform made limited long-run impact incentives to actors within the system—if the as state officials, local level bureaucrats, news is bad, responsibility for it has to be and locally elected bodies were reluctant clear. The MLA report cards developed by to use the better-quality attendance data Satark Nagarik Sangathan and published in for enforcement due to a fear of generating various newspapers before state elections, discord among the staff. are a good example of prioritization (a small set of numbers, prominently displayed) and To summarize, learning is not a logistical clear designation—it says, more or less task. We have all too many examples explicitly, “you are about to vote for your now showing us that an MIS is not magic. MLA, here is what he did.” Research shows The mere existence of call-centers and that this intervention changes how the information infrastructure does not mean voters vote, rewarding the best performers much without effective use and design. Even according to the report card and hurting the with the best technology and information worst. This example also makes clear that monitoring, local administrators may choose whenever we prioritize information there are not to convert the data they produce hard choices to be made. The report cards, and own into knowledge and a body of to be effective, left many things out and an actionable evidence, unless they have the MLA could potentially complain that this people, time and training to do so. Without (Change background colour as needed) was unfair to her achievements. There is no such resources in the design and use of MIS perfect resolution here, but there is a clear for social programs, information will become trade-off between effectiveness and being relentless noise, nuisance rather than an comprehensive. opportunity. Third, it is important to test whether the This article was first published in the Indian information is doing its job, whether it is being Express on 18th March 2019 The World Bank in India • July 2019 12 7 ICR Update T his is a short summary of the Implementation Completion Report (ICR) of a recently- closed World Bank project. The full text of the ICR is available on the Bank’s website. To access this document, go to www.worldbank.org/reference/ and then opt for the Documents & Reports section. Odisha Community Tanks Management Project Context Odisha Community Tanks Management In the late 2000’s about 85 percent of Project Odisha’s population was dependent on agriculture as a primary source of livelihood. Approval Date: 30 September, 2008 It however contributed only about 30 percent Closing Date: 30 June, 2016 to the state’s GDP. Average productivity Total Project $61.9 million levels were low compared to more advanced Cost agricultural states such as Punjab. An Bank Financing: $56.4 million important reason for the low productivity was that over 70 percent of the cultivated area Implementing Odisha Community Agency: Tank Development & was exposed to weather fluctuations and Management Society lacked access to sustained irrigation facilities. Odisha had more than 28000 tanks, but the Outcome: Moderately Satisfactory percentage of area irrigated through tanks Risk to Moderate was a mere 18 percent. Also, more than one- Development third of minor irrigation schemes in the state Outcome: were not functioning. Overall Bank Moderately Satisfactory Performance: The Government of Odisha (GoO) attached Overall Borrower Moderately Satisfactory high priority to expanding irrigation facilities Performance: and optimum utilization of available water 12 8 The World Bank in India • July 2019 resources. As the tank system has been an coverage of 60,000 ha. By the end of the age-old part of the agrarian community in project period, 328 tanks were rehabilitated the state, a project was designed to improve against the target of 332 tanks. tank systems, increase productivity of water The project increased availability of water through adoption of improved agricultural for irrigation through rehabilitation of tank technologies, and develop fisheries. The systems and promotion of less water-intensive World Bank had a long history of supporting crops during both Kharif and Rabi seasons. irrigation development in the states of The tanks delivered water to 92.1 percent of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. command areas in Kharif (monsoon) season This experience resulted in the World and an additional 20,000 ha (31 percent) Bank’s support to participatory irrigation in Rabi (winter) season. Improved water infrastructure development in Odisha. availability in rehabilitated tanks was reported Project Development Objectives by 95.6 percent of head reach farmers. The main objective of the Odisha Community Even the middle-reach and tail-end farmers Tanks Management Project was for selected reported improved water availability at 95.4 tank-based producers to improve agricultural percent and 91.7 percent respectively. productivity and water user associations to There was a substantial increase in production manage tank systems effectively. The tank of paddy, pulses and oilseeds. The use of new system rehabilitation was designed in a technology resulted in an 83 percent increase decentralized manner so that the intended in paddy cultivation, 95 percent increase beneficiaries not only played an active role in in green gram cultivation and 200 percent planning, implementing, and sustaining project increase in mustard cultivation. interventions but also contributed to improving agricultural productivity and incomes through Besides improving water use efficiency, crop better access to agricultural technologies and diversification and seasonal rotations also facilitation of market linkages. enhanced the resilience of cropping systems to diseases and pests. To complement The key performance indicators proposed for resilience building in cropping systems, the measuring and monitoring progress were: project had also focused on diversification of m Increase in agricultural (including livestock income sources, through livestock rearing, and fisheries) productivity and production fisheries, and mushroom culture, safeguarding from tank systems against potential reduction in yield or crop Improved water availability for tail end m failure due to climate hazards such as farmers droughts, floods, and cyclones that are known to affect the project area. m Resource raised and operation and maintenance expenditures incurred by The project substantially contributed to user groups. enhanced capacity of the WUAs to manage tank systems effectively. By the end of the The beneficiaries of the project were the project cycle, 364 WUAs were created or Water User Associations (WUAs), farmer’s strengthened from a baseline of 0, and interest groups (FIG), women self-help groups, against a target of 374. To develop capacity, fishermen cooperatives, and marketing groups. training modules were developed in areas of The project extended diversity of benefits, financial management, participatory planning, directly and indirectly, to farmers, women, and Operations and Maintenance (O&M). youth, and children across the command area of the selected tanks. The project also This significantly enhanced the capacity of the extended economic and social benefits to the WUAs and built a foundation for them to take weaker sections of the community. over O&M post-completion. This enhanced capacity also had a broader positive effect on Achievements social and institutional development in project The project was to rehabilitate 900 tanks tank areas. At project closing 71.5 percent which would provide irrigation for about of water users in rehabilitated tank systems 120,000 ha. However, after a restructuring, were satisfied with the O&M performed by the only 320 tanks were selected with a land WUAs. The World Bank in India • July 2019 12 9 Lessons Learnt manner to evaluate performance efficiency ● The potential of community-based of the tank system about net additional institutions in agricultural water water realized after modernization of tank management. The project demonstrated systems and to quantify water budgets/ how WUAs can play a positive and intake for crops. Going forward, such expanded role in irrigation. This requires systems might help assess performance substantial investments in capacity of crop water systems in the tank ayacut building of both WUAs and government during low rainfall years as part of a institutions strategy toward climate resilience. ● Interdisciplinary expertise for maximum ● Use of remote-sensing for effective M&E. impact. The key operation concepts of the The M&E in the project relied heavily on project were new to the Water Resources field surveys in a selected sample as per Department, as the project needed the design of the project. Even though synergy between the core team of water advanced and robust remote-sensing tools resources with the irrigation department, are available for retrieving and tracking agriculture department, fisheries the crop and water variables with a good department, and so on. The project unit spatial resolution, such approaches were had difficulty in the early years taking not relied upon to fill the information gap these concepts even though at the end, from field surveys to complement the the project has demonstrated effective output indicators. Such complementary convergence and collaboration with data are very useful for monitoring the other departments. Going forward, future performance of modernized tanks systems water resources management projects beyond the project period. in India should specifically consider ● Time requirements for institutional interdisciplinary expertise to maximize capacity building. The project relied development impact. heavily on local capacity to support ● Evaluate tank system performance using an enhanced WUA role in tank system automated devices. An achievement in management. The long time needed to the project was the installation of state- build such capacity, and the inevitable of-the-art cutthroat flume in the canal variation in results, will need to be taken and distribution system for accurate into account when setting institutional (Change background colour as needed) measurement of water flows. However, targets for a time bound project. In the design did not include any monitoring hindsight, the targets WUA functioning of flows either through manual or simple for this project should have been less automated devices in a continuous ambitious. 12 10 The World Bank in India • July 2019 Lighthouse India Leveraging cooperative federalism: Pathway to public finance management reforms in India H alf of India’s public spending on basic services still does not reach the poor because of inefficiencies in execution. And made available quicker, more easily and for improved decision-making. many states in India continue to run large “Also, direct transfer from the national budget deficits, particularly in recent years. government into a beneficiary account is now possible in seconds for several centrally- These challenges suggest that India’s public sponsored schemes. Earlier, it could take financial management (PFM) system leaves months,” said Manoj Jain, Lead Financial something to be desired. Some noteworthy Specialist, World Bank. PFM reforms have taken place over the past few years. For instance, invoking the spirit To make the impact of these reforms more of cooperative federalism, the 14th Finance holistic and sustainable, some bold and Commission significantly enhanced financial important steps have to be taken at the devolution to states for improved service national level. delivery. It did this by helping direct more funds with no strings attached or “untied Policy environment is ripe for funds” from the center to the states. deepening PFM reforms Treasury systems across most Indian states The piling deficits have forced a re-look of have been strengthened and information the “how, where and why” of government technology has been a crucial enabler. There spending. is a much greater integration of processes and better financial information is being Furthermore, the recently-constituted 15th 12 The World Bank in India • July 2019 11 Finance Commission has a primary mandate From national PFM legislation for promoting equity through redistribution of revenue between the center and state. In to standard accounting order to fulfill this mandate, it is laying strong procedures: Key lessons emphasis on public financial management The most important message to emerge was and accountability. that the states are looking to the national Most importantly, the states are looking for government to create a vehicle, much like guidance on strategic and forward planning. the GST council, that can enable a seamless There is a strong demand for knowledge exchange on the public finance constraints sharing and transfer of good practices on and planning vacuum they are facing. PFM reforms, to help lagging states leapfrog PFM-KIN could serve as a beginning in this and avoid “reinventing the wheel.” direction, with its aim to facilitate an exchange of ideas and learnings across states. “The changes are happening too fast for us, whether it is the coming in of GST, the Also, the national government and most expectations of people, the demands from states in India have already passed fiscal our citizens in terms of service delivery, responsibility laws, but are still waiting for an the coming of the Right to Information Act, overarching national level legislation on PFM. technology – all this has made it imperative This will help provide impetus to the design for the center and states to really rethink the and implementation of PFM reforms. “Almost way they are delivering services. Gone are all big decentralized countries have actually the days when the government was seen implemented an overarching legislation, that as a patron of its citizens. It’s more now gives the principles of PFM and then the sub- about accountability,” said Anirudh Tiwari, nationals are able to innovate around those Principal Secretary Finance, Government of principles,” said Junaid Ahmad, Country Punjab. Director, World Bank, India. “This overarching legislation then acts almost as a catalyst for Peer-to-peer learning on PFM: reform in the states themselves. It’s how one can marry harmonization with innovation.” The way forward Finally, there is a crying need for instituting Recognizing the strong demand for acceptable accounting standards in India. knowledge, the World Bank has facilitated a This will help prevent opaqueness and series of Knowledge Exchanges (KE) on PFM standardize financial reporting across the between Indian states since 2014, under the center and states. The International Public aegis of a PFM Community of Practice called Sector Accounting Standards serves as a Public Finance Management Knowledge tried and tested global standard, which can and Innovation Network (PFM-KIN). be adopted for India. Its most recent PFM-KIN workshop was held In the end, these changes only signal the from May 9-10, 2019, the first in a series of inevitable forward march of PFM reforms in “technical deep-dives” into three key PFM India. issues – electronic submission of accounts, e-procurement and the perennial issue of “PFM reforms will happen – it’s an eventuality, budget transparency and accountability. not an option,” said Pawan Kadyan, Joint Secretary, West Bengal, a state now Fifty senior officials, including principal implementing more advanced PFM reforms. “In finance secretaries, participated from eight (Change background colour as needed) the end, improving PFM improves governance. Indian states (Andhra Pradesh, Assam, It is an essential requirement going forward Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, in a stage where India has reached – that of Punjab, West Bengal and Uttarakhand). becoming a middle-income country.” Central accounting agencies were also well represented – Department of Economic “Lighthouse India” is a World Bank initiative Affairs (DEA), National Informatics Centre supporting systematic knowledge exchanges (NIC), Comptroller General of Accounts (CGA) on good practices and innovations in and Comptroller and Auditor General of India development programmes across Indian (CAG). states and with the world. 12 The World Bank in India • July 2019 Lighthouse India Consultative group on women’s economic empowerment brings the issue front and center learning within India and globally. Lighthouse recently undertook a stock-taking exercise with 45 relevant stakeholders to identify key issues for women’s economic empowerment across states in India. Four key areas for policy focus were identified: women’s employment and protection in the workplace from sexual harassment and gender-based violence; their access to assets and land rights; entrepreneurship and skill enhancement; and access to financial services. It also helped highlight the limited knowledge sharing, scattered interventions and thus, limited scale of policy impact. A major outcome was the constitution of a W omen’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) is no longer only seen as a matter of social justice. National governments Consultative Group on Women Economic Empowerment, comprising 20 organizations, including TISS, ICRW, Care, Industree and hard-wired economists are now Foundation and Kudumbashree and recognizing that it is good economics, development partners such as UN Women, too, and critical to the growth aspirations UNDP, DFID, ILO and GIZ. “We care about of developing countries. Nowhere is this this issue deeply because it matters for growing realization more relevant and timely the mission of this organization, because than in India. it matters for the journey of this country, and what happens in India also impacts The gradual decline of women’s participation other countries.” said Hisham Abdo Kahin, in the formal economy in India over the past Operations Manager, World Bank, kicking off 15 years from 42 percent to 23 percent the group’s first meeting on January 31, 2019. has brought renewed focus and attention He added, “Unless we change the way we to women’s economic empowerment as think about it to ‘it’s everybody’s business’ an important development priority. Under and not just those who work in the sector, we the Government of India’s MUDRA scheme will not get there. A group like you will help to support micro and small enterprises, us lead towards that.” 70 percent of the borrowers are women, underscoring that Indian women are more Lighthouse next hopes to deepen than willing to work, if the opportunities are understanding around specific themes and provided. delve into the theme of “Women and Land (Change background colour as needed) Rights” for knowledge sharing and to identify WEE is a priority area for the World Bank replicable models. It also plans to identify as part of “Lighthouse India” – a strategic knowledge partners to bring in expertise from initiative aimed at systematic knowledge across the country. exchange of evidence-based development 12 The World Bank in India • July 2019 13 Face to Face Disaster preparedness and mitigation in Odisha On May 3, Cyclone Fani wreaked havoc on the coastal areas of Odisha and West Bengal, before moving on to Bangladesh with relatively low intensity. In the eastern state of Odisha, where the cyclone’s effects were felt the most, 64 people died while 1.2 million people were evacuated. Deepak Singh, Lead Disaster Risk Management Specialist at the World Bank, gives us an on- ground picture of the destruction caused by Cyclone Fani, and talks about the disaster mitigation efforts by the World Bank in Odisha through its various projects. Tell us about the current developments post Cyclone Fani in Odisha. C yclone Fani was unexpected for this time of year as cyclones usually occur during the monsoons in July-August in this region. In this case, the cyclone first started to move parallel to the coast, causing damage to the coastal districts of Odisha, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh. But after crossing Puri in Odisha, it seemed to lose a bit of steam and fell rather weakly by the time it reached Bangladesh. The cyclone track was being monitored closely by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and it was known precisely where the cyclone will cross and when it will fall. The Odisha government showed a high degree of preparedness and effectively managed to evacuate about 1.2 million people based on these predictions. The government of Odisha successfully managed to minimize the loss of life; this itself was not a small exercise and required tremendous effort. However, the state still suffered major losses in terms of infrastructure, particularly electrical infrastructure, housing, public buildings, transport infrastructure, including airports and railway stations, and port and harbor areas. The next step is for the state to build capacity to minimize loss of assets and livelihood. What has been the role of the World Bank in disaster mitigation and reconstruction in India? How can the Bank help? The World Bank has been at the forefront of supporting efforts to reduce vulnerability to cyclone and other hydro-meteorological hazards of coastal communities in the coastal states of West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, as well as in the Jhelum Tawi area, in Uttarakhand and in the Bihar Kosi Basin. Its total investment so far stands at $1.7 billion. The Bank’s nature of involvement in this area has also evolved over time. During the earthquakes in Latur, Maharashtra and Bhuj, Gujarat, the World Bank helped state governments with recovery and reconstruction. But since the 2004 Tsunami, the Bank has taken up several projects in disaster mitigation. For example, the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation project that started in 2010 was a major intervention in all the 10 coastal states of India. Specifically, in Odisha, the World Bank has been supporting the state government in restoring and improving housing and public services in targeted communities of the state, as well as in 12 14 The World Bank in India • July 2019 January 2015 increasing capacity to respond promptly and effectively to crisis or emergency since after the super-cyclone of 1999 that killed more than 10,000 people. Through projects like the Odisha Disaster Recovery Project and the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Program, with investment of more than $350 million, the World Bank has made a very concentrated effort in reducing the impact of cyclones. Loss of lives since the super-cyclone of 1999 in Odisha has been minimized considerably, although minimizing losses in terms of infrastructure and livelihood is still something the state needs support with. What specific disaster mitigation efforts have been carried out by the World Bank? The early warning systems generated by IMD typically only reach the state and district levels. There has been no formal mechanism so far to communicate these warnings to the villages and people at large. The World Bank has helped create the intelligence to carry these warnings to the last mile. Particularly in Odisha, this system was introduced during the Cyclone Mitigation Project and has been used for the past 12 years. The World Bank has also been assisting states in creating cyclone shelters and access to these shelters. It has provided early warning systems and helped governments create dissemination systems for them. Similar efforts have been made in other states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. What lessons can the rest of the country learn from Odisha’s disaster mitigation preparedness? Odisha has a great community outreach system. It now has a network of 450 cyclone shelters and there is a robust mechanism for the maintenance of the cyclone shelters—each cyclone shelter has a maintenance committee where youth have been involved and trained for search and rescue, first aid medical attention, and for providing cyclone warnings. Through a network of these shelters and committees and training, the state has involved the entire community. The state’s disaster management systems are monitored twice each year, given the propensity of natural disasters in the state. This is not the first time that an economically weaker state like Odisha has managed to successfully evacuate millions of people during a natural disaster; it also did so during Cyclone Phailin in 2013. Odisha has managed to create a sense of community during such disasters that other states can also emulate. Are there any areas where Odisha can still improve? There are two parts to disaster mitigation: minimizing the loss of lives, which Odisha has done remarkably; but the other is minimizing the loss of infrastructure and livelihood. Statistically, there has been a cyclone every two years or a major cyclone every four years on the coast of Odisha. Given this, coastal housing in Odisha is still quite vulnerable. Similarly, the power infrastructure is completely over-ground, leaving it extremely exposed during natural disasters. Disruption of the electrical system also has a cascading effect on health systems, water supply, communication and transport, etc. which become even more vital during natural disasters for help to reach the most vulnerable. (Change background colour as needed) The Government of Odisha certainly needs to think about investing in creating safer housing especially in the coastal regions, and in creating electrical systems that are underground. This will not only help minimize the need for evacuation, but also save on the systematic investments that are made when household assets are lost during a disaster. 12 The World Bank in India • July 2019 15 Recent Project Signings The First Resilient Kerala Program T he Government of India, Government of Kerala and the World Bank have signed a loan agreement of $250 million for The 2018 floods and landslides in Kerala led to severe impact on property, infrastructure, and lives and livelihoods of people. One sixth the Resilient Kerala Program to enhance of the state’s population – about 5.4 million the state’s resilience against the impacts of people – were affected while 1.4 million natural disasters and climate change. were displaced from their homes, especially the poor and vulnerable segments of the population. The Resilient Kerala Program will focus on strengthening the state’s institutional and financial capacity to protect the assets and livelihoods of poor and vulnerable groups through an inclusive and participatory approach. The program also represents the first ‘state partnership’ of the World Bank in India, (Change background colour as needed) where the Bank will support select states striving to improve institutional capability in priority areas such as transport, livelihood, and urban planning. Jharkhand Municipal Development Project T he Government of India, the Government of Jharkhand and the World Bank have signed a $147 million loan agreement of the participating ULBs are expected to benefit, of which at least 45 percent will be women. to provide basic urban services to the Interventions such as piped water supply, people of Jharkhand and help improve the storm water drains, climate friendly road management capacity of the urban local construction and energy efficient street bodies (ULBs) in the state. lighting will not only help improve urban The Jharkhand Municipal Development services but also make it environmentally Project will focus on improving the municipal sustainable. sector’s capacity to provide basic urban Work on two subprojects – Khunti water services. It will invest in urban services such supply subproject and the Dhanbad roads as water supply, sewerage, drainage, and subproject is expected to commence urban roads; and strengthen the capacity shortly. Through its other key components, of the Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure the project will improve urban governance Development Company (JUIDCO) as well as by assisting ULBs to improve their that of the ULBs to carry out reforms in the (Change background colour as needed) organizational capacity, manage finances areas of urban finance and governance. in a sustainable manner, and focus on the Most of the project components will be open development of its nodal implementing to all 43 ULBs in the state who may wish to agency, JUIDCO. participate within an agreed framework under the project. Over 350,000 urban residents 12 16 The World Bank in India • July 2019 Andhra Pradesh Health Systems Strengthening Project T he $328 million Andhra Pradesh Health Systems Strengthening Project will work towards improving the quality rolling out an integrated online patient management system; improving access to the government’s free drugs scheme; and, and quality of care in community health establishing a patient feedback system. centers and primary health centers. It will The integrated online patient management encourage screening and early detection of system will give citizens online access to noncommunicable diseases and improve the their health records which can be accessed state’s pharmaceutical stock management at any public health facility. It will also system. (Change background colour as needed) enable doctors and nurses to provide better The project aims to make public health diagnosis, treatment and referral, etc. services more user-friendly and responsive thereby improving their responsiveness and to peoples’ feedback. This includes decision making. Uttarakhand Public Financial Management Strengthening Project T he Government of India, the Government of Uttarakhand and the World Bank have signed a loan agreement of $31.58 The project will support the state government’s initiative to build and modernize the technical and financial management capabilities of its million for the Uttarakhand Public Financial local bodies and state-owned enterprises. Management Strengthening Project that will It will help improve capacity in the areas of help improve the state’s ability to manage its cash and debt management, planning and financial systems and lead to better utilization budgeting, appraisal and monitoring of high of development resources. value projects and public audit. It will support measures to improve transparency of budget The project will benefit the citizens of (Change and procurement information. Using GIS Uttarakhand by creating a more transparent mapping technologies, the project will also and efficient system of management of public strengthen the state’s revenue management finances, including administration of tax and systems, including that of urban local bodies. non-tax revenues. Rajasthan State Highways Development Program II Project T he Government of India, Government of Rajasthan and the World Bank have signed a $250 million loan agreement to build Rajasthan’s capacity to better manage its highways and improve traffic flows on selected highways in the state. The project will support the construction, upgradation, improvement and maintenance of 766 kms of state highways and major district roads. It will also focus on enhancing the institutional capacity to manage strategic network of the state through operationalization of Rajasthan State Highways Authority. In addition, it will strengthen the capacity of the Public Works Department which is responsible for about (Change background colour as needed) 70 percent of the state’s road network. Special attention will be accorded towards management of the road safety in the state. 12 The World Bank in India • July 2019 17 Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Program T he Government of India, Government of Tamil Nadu and the World Bank have signed a $287 million loan agreement m achieve national accreditation for primary, secondary, and tertiary-level health facilities in the public sector; for the Tamil Nadu Health System Reform m strengthen physicians, nurses and Program. The program aims to improve the paramedics through continuous medical quality of health care, reduce the burden of education; non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and fill m strengthen the feedback loop between equity gaps in reproductive and child health citizens and the state by making quality services in Tamil Nadu. and other data accessible to the public. The Tamil Nadu Health System Reform The program will promote population-based Program will support the state government screening, treatment and follow-up for NCDs, to: and improve monitoring and evaluation. m develop clinical protocols and guidelines; Patients will be equipped with knowledge and skills to self-manage their conditions. Lab services and health provider capacity will also be strengthened to address mental health. To tackle road injuries, the program will improve in-hospital care, strengthen protocols, strengthen the 24x7 trauma care services and establish a trauma registry. Another key aim of this program is to reduce the equity gaps in reproductive and child health. Special focus will be given to nine (Change background colour as needed) priority districts, which constitute the bottom quintile of the RCH indicators in the state and have a relatively large proportion of tribal populations. Program Towards Elimination of Tuberculosis T he World Bank and the Government of India has signed a loan agreement of $400 million to improve the coverage and health crisis that kills an estimated half a million people in India every year. The program builds on a partnership between quality of TB control interventions in nine the Government of India and the World Bank states across India. TB remains a public that has spanned more than 20 years. World Bank supported programs have helped treat more than 20 million people since 1998 and averted 3.5 million deaths. Results areas under the new initiative include rolling out TB patient management and support interventions; strengthening diagnostics and management of drug- resistant TB; and strengthening institutional capacity and information systems. These (Change background colour as needed) results areas represent the newest and most innovative aspects of India’s National Strategic Plan and are of national and global significance. 12 18 The World Bank in India • July 2019 New Additions to the Public Information Center T his is a select listing of recent World Bank publications, working papers, operational documents and other information resources that are now available at the New Delhi Office Public Information Center. Policy Research Working Papers, Project Appraisal Documents, Project Information Documents and other reports can be downloaded in pdf format from ‘Documents and Reports’ at www.worldbank.org India Publications Publications may be consulted and copies of unpriced items obtained from: Estimating Poverty in India without Expenditure The World Bank PIC Data: A Survey-to-Survey Imputation Approach The Hindustan Times House (Press Block) By David Locke Newhouse 18-20, Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Pallavi Vyas New Delhi – 110 001, India Available On-Line Tel: +91-11-4294 7000, Ext. 753 Published: June 2019, Website: www.worldbank.org 40 pages Facebook: www.facebook.com/WorldBankIndia Email: indiapic@worldbank.org English version, Paperback Working Paper Report No.: 137681 PRINCIPAL DISTRIBUTOR Viva Books Pvt Ltd This paper applies an innovative method to 4737/23 Ansari Road, Daryaganj estimate poverty in India in the absence of recent New Delhi – 110 002 expenditure data. The method utilizes expenditure Tel: +91-11-4224 2200 data from 2004-05, 2009–10, and 2011–12 to impute Fax: +91-11-4224 2240 household expenditure into a survey of durable goods Email: vivadelhi@vivagroupindia.net expenditure conducted in 2014- 15. At the 1.90 US dollar per day international poverty line, the preferred model Other Preferred Stockist in India predicts a 2014–15 head-count poverty rate of 10 percent Anand Associates in urban areas and 16.4 percent in rural areas, implying 1219 Stock Exchange Tower a poverty rate of 14.6 percent nationally. The implied 12th Floor, Dalal Street poverty elasticity with respect to growth in per capita Mumbai – 400 023 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is within the range of Tel: +91-22-2272 3065/66 past experience, and states with higher gross domestic Email: thrupti@vsnl.com Website: www.myown.org product growth saw greater predicted poverty reductions. Fax: +91-11-2610 0573 (New Delhi) Fax: +91-80-4128 7582 (Bangalore) South Asia Publications Allied Publishers Pvt Ltd Tel: +91-22-2261 7926/27 South Asia Economic Focus Spring 2019: “Exports Email: mumbai.books@alliedpublishers.com Wanted” Website: www.alliedpublishers.com By The World Bank Bookwell Available On-Line Published: April 2019, 24/4800 Ansari Road, Daryaganj 98 pages New Delhi – 110 002 English version, Paperback Tel: +91-11-2326 8786; 2325 7264 Report No.: 135953 Email: bookwell@vsnl.net South Asia remained the fastest growing region in the world last year, but growth remained driven by 12 The World Bank in India • July 2019 19 domestic demand – and not exports – which resulted in WPS8883 another year of double-digit volume growth of imports. Labor and Welfare Impacts of a Large-Scale The value of imports was further pushed up by rising oil Livelihoods Program: Quasi-Experimental Evidence prices. The widening current account deficits became from India more difficult to finance and these tensions triggered By Vivek Pandey, Abhishek Gupta and Shivani Gupta capital outflows, depreciation pressures, increases in Improving the livelihoods of poor households and credit default swap spreads, and falling stock prices. transitioning more women back to the labor force is In recent months, however, the data shows a more a major challenge in South Asia. Self-employment positive picture. promoted through women’s groups has often been The growth outlook for South Asia assumes that the cited as a promising intervention towards this end. recent acceleration of export growth continues and However, the evidence on the impact of such programs that import growth slows. Under these conditions, on household income and labor outcomes is limited, GDP growth is expected to accelerate. Under current especially for government programs like the National circumstances fiscal tightening is appropriate, not Rural Livelihoods Mission in India. only to make government debt more sustainable, but This study aims to provide empirical evidence on the also to bring the economy back into balance, and thus welfare impacts of an “intensive approach” adopted become less vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in under this program. The data for the study come from international financial markets. 4,316 household surveys in 727 villages. The study Using a gravity model, we show that South Asian uses matching methods with the population and countries export only a third of their potential. If socioeconomic census, as well as an instrumental countries export closer to potential, not only would variable approach to construct a retrospective control short-term adjustments be easier, but also the long- group. The analysis finds that the program has been term growth potential would be higher. Closing the able to achieve its primary objective of improving export gap is an essential step in addressing both livelihoods by transitioning more women into work. The short-term and long-term macroeconomic challenges in program has also expanded access to credit, increased South Asia. the proportion of savings, and reduced interest rates on credit for rural households. India: Policy Research Working Papers This is the first study to estimate the annual income effects of a government-run rural livelihoods program WPS8885 in India, and it shows significant increases in median Infrastructure and Finance: Evidence from India’s income across the sample. The results for 30th, 40th, GQ Highway Network and 75th percentiles are also large and significant. By Abhiman Das, Ejaz Ghani, Arti Goswami Grover, However, the study did not find significant average William Robert Kerr and Ramana Nanda treatment effects for income. Contrary to previous studies, this study finds weaker impacts on assets, This paper uses the construction of India’s Golden except for livestock. Quadrangle central highway network, together with comprehensive loan data from the Reserve Bank of India, to investigate the interaction between Other Publications infrastructure development and financial sector depth. The paper identifies a disproportionate increase in The Little Data Book on Gender 2019 loan count and average loan size in districts along the By World Bank Golden Quadrangle highway network, using stringent Available On-Line specifications with industry and district fixed effects. Published: April 2019, 248 pages The results hold in straight-line instrumental variable English version, Paperback frameworks and are not present in placebo tests with The Little Data Book on Gender another highway that was planned to be upgraded at 2019 illustrates the progress the same time as Golden Quadrangle but subsequently towards gender equality for 217 delayed. economies around the world. It Importantly, however, the results are concentrated in provides comparable statistics districts with stronger initial financial development, for women and men for the years suggesting that although financing responds to large 2000 and 2017 across a range infrastructure investments and helps spur real economic of indicators covering education, health and related outcomes, initial financial sector development might services, economic structure, participation and access play an important role in determining where real activity to resources, public life and decision making, and will grow. agency, enabling readers to readily compare economies. 12 20 The World Bank in India • July 2019 Back to School: Pathways for Reengagement of Out- Boosting Financial Resilience to Disaster Shocks: of-School Youth in Education Good Practices and New Frontiers By Subhashini Rajasekaran By The World Bank and Joel Reyes Available On-Line Available On-Line Published: May 2019, Published: April 2019, 56 pages 147 pages English Version, Paperback English version, Paperback Report No.:137550 ISBN: 978-1-4648-1404-4 Governments face growing Back to School: Pathways contingent liabilities from for Reengagement of disasters as they tend Out-of-School Youth in to shoulder a significant Education focuses on a social and global problem: share of disaster response and recovery costs. Disaster 200 million adolescents and youth are out of school, shocks increase government expenditure and hamper live in adverse life circumstances, and face multiple economic activities. An increasing number of countries disadvantages. It analyzes the available evidence for are developing financial protection strategies – a suite what works, how, and why for reengaging and retaining of policies and financial instruments – as part of their these young people in education. macro-fiscal policy to secure access to pre-arranged financing and protect the fiscal balance and budget The study further explores for whom and in what when disasters strike. Investments in physical and social contexts the identified interventions can be effective, resilience complement and reinforce financial resilience. considering variations in both individual and contextual characteristics of the targeted youth. This literature Pre-arranged risk financing can help governments review and synthesized findings can be useful to build reduce the fiscal cost of disasters. Sovereign a broad theory of change with the aim of guiding local catastrophe risk pools, established to help especially policy and programming for designing contextualized low-capacity countries better access financial interventions for education reengagement. markets, are evolving toward multifunctional platforms to strengthen financial resilience in their region. Governments are moving toward adopting more Balancing Petroleum Policy: Toward Value, sophisticated risk financing strategies that better Sustainability, and Security match financial instruments to their liabilities, especially for public assets (including infrastructure), national- By Alexander Hurrdeman subnational cost sharing, and social safety nets. and Anastasiya Rozhkova Available On-Line Published: May 2019, State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2019 296 pages English version, Paperback By World Bank ISBN: 978-1-4648-1384-9 Available On-Line Published: June 2019, Petroleum discovery 97 pages challenges policy makers English version, Electronic to translate resources into ISBN: 978-1-4648-1435-8 equitable, sustainable, and long-term national growth. Balancing Petroleum Carbon pricing is Policy provides policy makers and other stakeholders widely seen as a critical with needed basic sector-related knowledge. It component of an effective introduces the petroleum value chain, how to envision climate strategy. However, key petroleum development objectives, legislative the coverage and strength of existing carbon pricing and contractual framework design, administration and policies are too low to reduce emissions in line with management of petroleum fiscal regimes, transparency the Paris Agreement on climate. State and Trends of and governance, environmental and social safeguards, Carbon Pricing 2019 provides an up-to-date overview and economic diversification through industrial linkages. of existing and emerging carbon pricing initiatives at the The book focuses on developing countries and those international, national, and subnational level. in civil conflict. The book examines three policy-central It investigates trends surrounding the development and questions: ownership, management, and revenue implementation of carbon pricing instruments and how sharing of petroleum resources. Context-specific in its they could accelerate to deliver long-term mitigation approach, the book offers valuable perspectives on how goals. Unique to this edition, the report also takes a to prevent violent conflicts related to such resources. more comprehensive review to examine the role of 12 The World Bank in India • July 2019 21 implicit carbon pricing in fiscal and energy policies. India Project Documents This work is a product of the World Bank, with support from Navigant, as well as from the Carbon Pricing Bihar Kosi Flood Recovery Project Leadership Coalition, the International Climate Action Partnership and the Partnership for Market Readiness. Date 03 June 2019 Project ID P122096 Competency-Based Accounting Education, Training, Report No. ICRR0021515 (Implementation and Certification: An Implementation Guide Completion Report Review) By Alfred Borgonovo, Brian Capacity Building for Urban Development Project Friedrich, and Michael Wells Available On-Line Date 16 April 2019 Published: April 2019, Project ID P099979 137 pages English version, Paperback Report No. ICRR0021525 (Implementation ISBN: 978-1-4648-1403-7 Completion Report Review) The guide supports Coal-Fired Generation Rehabilitation Project transitioning accounting education, training, and Date 29 April 2019 certification from a knowledge-based approach to a Project ID P100101 competency-based approach. Underlying...-Based Accounting Education, Training and Certification Report No. ICR4323 (Implementation Completion (CBAETC); provide a common reference. and Results Report) Karnataka Multisectoral Nutrition Pilot Project Where Sun Meets Water: Floating Solar Market Report Date 29 April 2019 By World Bank Group; Project ID P149811 Energy Sector Management Assistance Program; Solar Report No. ICR4781 (Implementation Completion Energy Research Institution and Results Report) of Singapore (2019) Available On-Line National Programme for Improving the Quality of Published: May 2019, Statistics in India 56 pages Date 28 May 2019 English Version, Paperback Report No.:137550 Project ID P169497 Floating solar photovoltaic installations open new Report No. PIDC26687 (Project Information opportunities for scaling up solar generating capacity, Document) especially in countries with high population density and ESRSC00416 (Environmental and competing uses for available land. Advantages of floating Social Review Summary) solar over land-based systems include higher energy yield, reduced evaporation, and improved water quality, NHAI Technical Assistance Project among others. Combining floating solar with hydropower plants is of particular interest. Flexible hydropower Date 26 April 2019 output can be used to smooth the variability of the Project ID P121515 solar generation, while making better use of existing transmission assets, particularly beneficial in countries Report No. ICRR0021527 (Implementation with weak grids. With a global estimated potential Completion Report Review) of 400 gigawatts, under conservative assumptions, floating solar could double the current global installed Odisha Integrated Irrigated Project on Climate capacity of solar PV. Floating Solar Market Report – Resilient Agriculture Executive Summary presents an overview of floating Date 01 May 2019 solar technologies, current deployment market and future opportunities, challenges related to floating solar Project ID P163533 deployment, policies and regulatory considerations, and Report No. SFG5311 (Environmental Assessment - current costs and project structuring. 15 Vol.) 12 22 The World Bank in India • July 2019 Resilient Kerala Program Water Sector Improvement Project Date 10 May 2019 Date 22 April 2019 Project ID P169907 Project ID P100954 Report No. PIDA26205 (Program Information Report No. ICRR0021583 (Implementation Document) Completion Report Review) From the Blogworld Giving women in extreme poverty one large package of aid and support the tools to build a better future Kristalina Georgieva, June 17, 2019 E xtreme poverty has fallen from more than a third of the world’s population 30 years ago to less than a tenth today, but that is not the case for people living amid or within the sound of war. Here, global efforts have not yet been able to turn the tide and the numbers of people living in poverty are unfortunately going up. (Change background colour as needed) Unless there is determined action to reverse this trend, by 2030 more than half of the world’s extreme poor will be concentrated in these pockets of violence and instability. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/yxms29p3 IDA helps build a brighter future for South Asians Hartwig Schafer, June17, 2019 C lean, safe water is never taken for granted in rural Bangladesh, which is home to 75 percent of the country’s population, or 109.3 million people. E.coli bacteria, dangerously high arsenic levels, excessive salt, iron, and other pathogens are among the contaminants commonly found in rural water sources. Fortunately, the International Development Association (IDA) stands ready to support the most vulnerable (Change background colour as needed) developing countries and to make key investments to grow and transform their economies and improve the lives of their citizens. IDA is contributing to remarkable achievements across South Asia. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/y55fys2y Inland waterways revive South Asia arteries of trade Bob Saum, Junaid Kamal Ahmad, May 21, 2019 A fully functioning network will allow a ship to pick up freight in Assam and sail south on W ater is essential to life and good health. It’s also vital to create jobs, propel economies forward, and boost social development. the Brahmaputra River into Bangladesh. It’s encouraging to see India and Bangladesh are reviving centuries-old inland waterways that once moved goods and people throughout both countries 12 The World Bank in India • July 2019 23 From the Blogworld as well as into Bhutan and Nepal. The improvements will promote trade, attract investment, and stimulate development. More than 600 million people in Bangladesh and India live along the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna (Change background colour as needed) rivers. Millions more live near navigable tributaries. But much of the cross-border river traffic linking India, Bangladesh, and landlocked Nepal and Bhutan ended after the partition of India and conflicts that followed. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/y5oz4y4y Can uneducated mothers monitor schools? Improving service delivery in education through community participation Kumar Vivek, Shabnam Sinha, Kamal Nath Jha, June 05, 2019 M r. Mithilesh Paswan is beaming with confidence as he pulls out his low-budget smartphone and excitedly shows the mobile application he and his Mr. Paswan is the chairperson of Vidyalaya Shiksha Samiti (VSS), or the school management committee of Middle School Araria Sangram in the district of friends have been using since a few months – the Madhubani, located about 200 km from Bihar state’s “Bihar School Score Card Application (SSCA)”. capital Patna. As the chairperson, he oversees the work of this 17-member VSS, a committee constituted by parents (with mothers occupying more than half the slots), teachers, students, self- help group representatives, and a representative from institution of local governance (Panchayati Raj Institution). The committee at Middle School Araria Sangram (Change background colour as needed) represents a larger effort by the government to empower community groups in Bihar to monitor, report on, and claim their rights of access to quality basic education. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/y5mtojxm Giving Indian girls a chance to shine Shubha Chakravarty, Jayati Sethi, Pravesh Kumar, May 02, 2019 “T ime is running out for us. Even if we want to do something we can’t do it. We do the hard work but still do not get the success,” says young Rani with a sense of urgency underpinned by an acute awareness of what adulthood holds for her. The disappointment of unmet aspirations is all too (Change background colour as needed) evident in her words. Rani lives in Jharkhand, a state in eastern India with a large youth population – one-third of its 33 million people are between 10 and 24 years old. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/y62gotue 12 24 The World Bank in India • July 2019 From the Blogworld Greater regional trade in South Asia can empower women Girija Shivakumar and Talajeh Livani, July 08, 2019 W omen in South Asia have some of the lowest economic activity rates in the world – only 30 percent of women participate in the labor force, compared to 82 percent of men, and a mere 8-9 percent of formal small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are owned by women. (Change background colour as needed) A study by the International Monetary Fund estimates that South Asia could increase its income by up to 25 percent if women had equal chances as men at getting a job or becoming entrepreneurs. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/y6lwrrau Disruptive technologies that are more valuable than what money can buy Joseph S. Barone, June 17, 2019 N o matter what your ideas about reducing poverty are, like starting a technical school, teaching English online or proving the concept of a classroom (Change background colour as needed) in a box, knowledge and experience are worth more than money. And using disruptive technologies can change the way education is delivered by anyone in the developing world. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/y4tglsup World Bank Policy Research Working Papers WPS8904 WPS8891 Implementing Adaptive Approaches in Real World A Framework to Assess Debt Sustainability and Fiscal Scenarios: A Nigeria Case Study, with Lessons for Risks under the Belt and Road Initiative Theory and Practice By Luca Bandiera and Vasileios Tsiropoulos By Kate Bridges and Michael Woolcock WPS8890 WPS8893 Search for Yield in Large International Corporate Dollarization Dilemma: Price Stability at the Cost of Bonds: Investor Behavior and Firm Responses External Competitiveness in Cambodia By Charles W. Calomiris, Mauricio Larrain, Sergio L. By Sovannroeun Samreth, Miguel Eduardo Sanchez Schmukler and Tomas Williams Martin and Sodeth Ly WPS8889 WPS8892 Better Policies from Policy-Selective Aid? Full Esteem Ahead? Mindset-Oriented Business By Kurt Annen and Stephen Knack Training in Ethiopia WPS8888 By Salman Alibhai, Niklas Buehren, Markus P. Goldstein Does Rainfall Matter for Economic Growth? Evidence and Sreelakshmi Papineni from Global Sub-National Data (1990-2014) 12 The World Bank in India • July 2019 25 By Richard Damania, Sebastien Gael Desbureaux and WPS8876 Esha Dilip Zaveri Innovation Patterns and Their Effects on Firm-Level Productivity in South Asia WPS8887 By Xavier Cirera and Ana Paula Cusolito The Redistributive Effects of Fiscal Policy in Mali and Niger WPS8875 By Thierry Hounsa, Mohamed Coulibaly and Aly Sanoh Market Size, Sunk Costs of Entry, and Transport Costs: An Empirical Evaluation of the Impact of Demand-Side WPS8886 Factors versus Supply-Side Factors on Manufacturing Measuring the Full Extent of Fiscal Losses and Gains Productivity By Mohamed Coulibaly and Aly Sanoh By Patricia H. Jones, Emmanuel Kwasi Koranteng WPS8885 Lartey, Taye Alemu Mengistae and Albert G. Zeufack Infrastructure and Finance: Evidence from India’s GQ WPS8874 Highway Network School-Based Management and Learning Outcomes: By Abhiman Das, Ejaz Ghani, Arti Goswami Grover, Experimental Evidence from Colima, Mexico William Robert Kerr and Ramana Nanda By Vicente A. Garcia Moreno, Paul J. Gertler and Harry WPS8884 Anthony Patrinos Diagonal Cumulation and Sourcing Decisions WPS8873 By Pamela Bombarda and Elisa Gamberoni From Theory to Practice: Open Government Data, WPS8883 Accountability, and Service Delivery Labor and Welfare Impacts of a Large-Scale By Michael Christopher Jelenic Livelihoods Program: Quasi-Experimental Evidence WPS8872 from India Group-Based Cognitive Behavioral Training Improves By Vivek Pandey, Abhishek Gupta and Shivani Gupta Mental Health of SME Entrepreneurs: Experimental Evidence from Conflict-Affected Areas of Pakistan WPS8882 By Priyam Saraf, Tasmia Rahman and Julian C. Jamison Employment Data in Household Surveys: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead WPS8871 By Sam Desiere and Valentina Costa Latin American Growth: A Trade Perspective By Augusto De La Torre and Alain Ize WPS8881 Monetary Policy in Fossil Fuel Exporters: The Curse of WPS8870 Horizons Technology Adoption and the Middle-Income Trap: By The World Bank Lessons from the Middle East and East Asia By Rabah Arezki, Yuting Fan and Ha Minh Nguyen WPS8880 Impact of the West African Ebola Epidemic on WPS8869 Agricultural Production and Rural Welfare: Evidence How Much Does Reducing Inequality Matter for Global from Liberia Poverty? By Alejandro De La Fuente, Hanan G. Jacoby and By Christoph Lakner, Daniel Gerszon Mahler, Mario Kotchikpa Gabriel Lawin Negre and Espen Beer Prydz WPS8879 WPS8868 The 2019 Update of the Health Equity and Financial The Exchange Rate: Why It Matters for Structural Protection Indicators Database: An Overview Transformation and Growth in Ethiopia By Adam Wagstaff, Patrick Hoang-Vu Eozenou, Sven By Fiseha Haile Neelsen and Marc-Francois Smitz WPS8867 WPS8878 Migration and Jobs: Issues for the 21st Century Estimating Poverty in India without Expenditure Data: By Luc Christiaensen, Alvaro S. Gonzalez and David A. A Survey-to-Survey Imputation Approach Robalino By David Locke Newhouse and Pallavi Vyas WPS8866 WPS8877 The Changing Pattern of Returns to Education: What No Household Left Behind: Afghanistan Targeting the Impact Will This Have on Inequality? Ultra Poor Impact Evaluation By Harry Anthony Patrinos By Guadalupe Bedoya, Aidan Coville, Johannes WPS8865 Haushofer, Mohammad Razaq Isaqzadeh and Jeremy Tackling the Global Profitarchy: Gender and the Choice Shapiro of Business Sector By The World Bank 12 26 The World Bank in India • July 2019 WPS8864 WPS8852 Corruption and Country Size: Evidence Using Firm- Productivity Growth: Patterns and Determinants Level Survey Data across the World By Mohammad Amin and Yew Chong Soh By Young Eun Kim and Norman V. Loayza WPS8863 WPS8851 Developing Public-Private Partnership Initiatives in The Apprenticeship-to-Work Transition: Experimental the Middle East and North Africa: From Public Debt to Evidence from Ghana Maximizing Finance for Development By Morgan L. Hardy, Isaac Mulangu Mbiti, Jamie Lee By Rabah Arezki and Ferid Belhaj Mccasland and Isabelle Salcher WPS8862 WPS8850 Preventing Violence in the Most Violent Contexts: Welfare Effects of Introducing Competition in the Behavioral and Neurophysiological Evidence Telecom Sector in Djibouti By Lelys Ileana Dinarte Diaz and Pablo Egana-delSol By Xavier Stephane Decoster, Gabriel Lara Ibarra, Vibhuti Mendiratta and Marco Santacroce WPS8861 Small African Economies in a More Uncertain Global WPS8849 Trade Environment: The Potential Impact of Post- The Lost Human Capital: Teacher Knowledge and AGOA Scenarios for Lesotho Student Achievement in Africa By Maryla Maliszewska, Jakob Engel, Guillermo Carlos By Tessa Bold, Deon P. Filmer, Ezequiel Molina and Arenas and Barbara R. Kotschwar Jakob Svensson WPS8860 WPS8848 Exploring Carbon Pricing in Developing Countries: A The Economics of International Student and Scholar Macroeconomic Analysis in Ethiopia Mobility: Directions for Research By Andualem Telaye, Pablo Benitez, Seneshaw Tamru, By Gnanaraj Chellaraj Haileselassie Amaha Medhin and Michael A. Toman WPS8847 WPS8859 Combining Growth and Gender Diagnostics for the Trade Integration and Growth: Evidence from Sub- Benefit of Both Saharan Africa By Elena Ianchovichina and Danny M. Leipziger By Cesar Calderon and Catalina Castillo Castro WPS8846 WPS8858 Can Micro-Credit Support Public Health Subsidy The Economics of Sustainability: Causes and Programs? Consequences of Energy Market Transformation By Britta Augsburg, Bet Caeyers and Bansi Khimji By Rabah Arezki Malde WPS8857 WPS8845 Identifying the Vulnerable to Poverty from Natural Labelled Loans, Credit Constraints and Sanitation Disasters: The Case of Typhoons in the Philippines Investments By Emmanuel Skoufias, Yasuhiro Kawasoe, Eric Strobl By Britta Augsburg, Bet Caeyers, Sara Giunti, Bansi and Pablo Ariel Acosta Khimji Malde and Susanna Smets WPS8855 WPS8844 Voice and Punishment: A Global Survey Experiment on The Rise of Domestic Capital Markets for Corporate Tax Morale Financing By Fredrik Matias Sjoberg, Jonathan Mellon, Tiago By Facundo Abraham, Juan Jose Cortina Lorente and Carneiro Peixoto and et.al. Sergio L. Schmukler WPS8854 WPS8843 Improving Management with Individual and Group- Tracking the Sustainable Development Goals: Based Consulting: Results from a Randomized Emerging Measurement Challenges and Further Experiment in Colombia Reflections By Leonardo Iacovone, William F. Maloney and David J. By Hai-Anh H. Dang and Umar Serajuddin Mckenzie WPS8842 WPS8853 Learning from Power Sector Reform: The Case of Learning from Power Sector Reform: The Case of The Pakistan Philippines By Robert W. Bacon By Robert W. 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