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Abstract

Large public sectors in countries like India need to be efficient; one of the tools to achieve this end is performance measurement. Performance indicators have been in use in the private corporate sector for a long time, and the idea of its adoption in the public sector is also not new. By now, there are several instances of practical application in the public sector, with varying degrees of success. This paper, after briefly discussing the rationale and practical issues relating to use of performance indicators in general and for social sector interventions in particular, illustrates its possible use by the state governments in India with the case of two departments of the Government of Chhattisgarh—health and school education. It discusses the administrative setup of the selected departments and desirable revamp of the setup along with the budgetary system, and discusses the preconditions of useful application of performance indicators. The paper then lists out some output and outcome indicators that can be used to begin with in the two departments of the state government. Possibilities for future refinements with better availability of data than now available are also indicated.

Keywords

JEL Classification: H51 JEL Classification: H52 JEL Classification: H75 Public Expenditure Performance Indicators Health Elementary Education

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References

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Performance Measurement in Social Sectors

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