Payment of bribe must for getting public services, feel slum-dwellers

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, AUG. 11. Slum-dwellers in the twin cities believe that their needs would not be met unless they pay extra money to the employees of the public service department and the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) is way ahead of other departments when it comes to corruption.

Payments ranging from Rs. 50 to Rs. 250 is a must even if their small needs have to be fulfilled, a "Report Card" published by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) revealed. The "Report Card" on public services was prepared by the ASCI after conducting a survey among slum-dwellers in the twin cities and the surrounding municipalities.

About 44 per cent of the respondents in slums felt that MCH employees demanded money or gifts for providing services. Interestingly, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) figures last in corruption, though the slum- dwellers are most dissatisfied with water supply and sewage problem, controlled by the HMWSSB.

Basic amenities like sanitation, water supply, drainage, electricity, telephones, public transport and post and telegraphs departments were taken into consideration while eliciting the opinions. Different other parameters like satisfaction of services, recurrence of problems, staff behaviour, response speed, citizens' struggle to reach the officials and the need to contact officials were also taken into account.

A total sample size of 300 was taken ensuring that all the circles and slums in Serilingampally and Uppal municipalities were covered equally. The information was generated through focus group discussions and surveying the sample.

Despite the heavy campaign taken up by the officials, majority of the people were not aware of several welfare schemes drafted for them. However, 92 per cent of the respondents were aware of Janmabhoomi, given the huge media attention it gets.

Surprisingly, the Chief Minister's Empowerment of Youth Programme (CMEY) attracted just 40 per cent respondent's attention while it was just 20 per cent when it came to Swarna Jayanthi Sahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY). However, the slum-dwellers felt they had not benefited much from the programmes except Janmabhoomi.

Endorsing the general public view, the slum-dwellers felt that staff behaviour was worse. As high as 95 per cent of the respondents felt that the staff were unhelpful and discourteous towards them. The HMWSSB can feel happy that it was rated at the bottom in this section as their employees were found to be more helpful than other departments.

Even in responding to their problems, HMWSSB was rated well and it has a record of completion 40 per cent of the jobs within one week of the complaint lodged. In other agencies time taken to attend to their problems is unusually high, the slum-dwellers feel. No doubt, they were made to visit a minimum of four times before their problem was solved, the survey found out. Those who do not lodge complaints, 85 per cent of them did it due to lack of faith. Six per cent did not complain because they feared losing their daily wage. However, majority of the respondents felt that employees were inefficient.

Interestingly, the survey found that 20 per cent of these people were willing to pay extra for improved services. Nearly 80 per cent of those willing to pay were ready to pay upto Rs. 100. A very good percentage of people were willing to pay for an independent tap (37 %) and personal toilet (17 %) and were prepared to pay anything upto Rs. 500. The local leaders, who generally have a sway over the slum-dwellers came in for a flak as people say only 16 per cent were approachable.

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