cropped_World Bank ratings on Kerala
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The World Bank has given 'substantial' risk ratings for its road projects in Kerala in the areas of 'political and governance' and 'institutional capacity for implementation and sustainability'. These high risk ratings are due to factors like political interference in projects, poor quality of work, delays in payments and decision making, frequent transfers of officials, and lack of sustainability plans. While the overall risk rating for Kerala has reduced from 'substantial' to 'moderate', two World Bank funded projects - the Kerala State Transport Project 2 and another project - continue to have 'substantial' risk ratings for these two areas. Experts say that lack of expertise among bureaucrats, insufficient training, and focus on project efficiency could be contributing to the high
cropped_World Bank ratings on Kerala
- 1. A RISKY STATE OF AFFAIRSProjectsInKeralaGet SubstantialRiskRating FromWorldBankUnder TwoCategories Shenoy.Karun@Timesgroup.com I f Malayalis earnestly believe that they enjoy a better political and governance system than that of their neighbours, then they might be terribly wrong at the least from World Banks perspective. A compar- ison of the World Banks ratings for its projects in Kerala and other Southern Indian states show that the risk factor is substantial for two categories in Kerala Political and Governance and Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability. Some of the African countries riddled with armed conflicts and civil wars have a better rating than Kerala regarding political and govern- ance aspect. For rating various aspects that could pose risk to their projects, the World Bank uses Systematic Operations Risk- Rating Tool (SORT). The ratings are usually presented in the periodical implementation status and results report of individual projects. There is an overall risk rating. Then, going deep, risk of eight aspects of the project are rated political and governance macroeconomic, sector strategies and policies, technical design of project, insti- tutional capacity for implementation and sustainability, fiduciary, stakeholders, environmental and social. Based on the intensity of the risk, the rating might be low, mod- erate, substantial or high. In Keralas case, the overall risk rating has come down from the substantial to moderate during the last three years. However, what is worrying is the substantial SORT rating for two aspects of on-going World Bank-part-funded Kerala State Transport Project 2 (KSTP-2), a five-year pro- ject which began in July 2013. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) is funding $216millionof thetotalexpectedprojectcostof $445million. The World Bank spokesperson clarified that they are addressing the substantial risk regarding Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability. The implementation risks are currently being mitigated through improved contract management framework, IT- based project management tool, and streamlined contract administration procedures, the response said. However, the World Banks official reply on substantial risk regarding political and governance aspect, was a clear attempt to play down the risk ratings for Kerala. The rating that you quote is not the current assessment and is not specific to the state or the project. This rating dates back to 2012 when the Project Appraisal Document was being prepared. The current risk rating is moderate, the email reply said. However, the World Banks periodical reports on implementation status and results of KSTP-2 dating back to December 2014, proves the spokesperson wrong. From that report onwards, SORT was used for risk rating and the political and governance aspect was given substantial rating. In its latest implementation status and results report of KSTP-2, which came out on June 17, 2016, the risk rating for two aspects Political and Govern- ance and Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability are substantial. World Bank officials might downplay the substantial risk rating as the Kerala Government is a client of them and the bank couldnt survive alienating its clients, a policy maker commented on conditions of anonymity. The April 2013 project appraisal document on KSTP-2 sheds light on those two aspects which still retain the substantial risk ratings. According to the document, these aspects pose governance challenges to the current project: political interference in project implementation, poor quality of works, delayed payments to contractors, delayed decision-making, repeated termination and rebid- ding of contracts, poor sustainability arrangements for roads and lack of mechanisms for adequate citizen feed- back and public disclosure. TIMES NEWS NETWORK W h i l e t h u m b i n g through the project appraisal document of KSTP-2, one gets the feeling that World Bank officials have a fair understanding of the ground realities in Kerala. Here is the taster - World- wide, the construction sector is perceived to be most suscep- tible to corruption, and espe- cially so in public works con- tracts. Indias road sector (and by extension, Keralas road sector) suffers from some of the same issues applicable to the road construction indus- try elsewhere: project delays due to issues in land acquisi- tion and rehabilitation and/or environmental clearances, poor coordination among de- partments, law and order problems in some areas, fre- quent design changes, poor project planning, funding and management, pseudo joint ventures, contractual failures, resource constraints and cor- ruption in the construction industry. Further, talking specifi- cally about its experience in road building in Kerala (KSTP- 1 was also part-funded by the bank), the World Banks ap- praisal document highlights the frequent transfers of offi- cials in Kerala. There is par- ticularly high turn-over of senior staff within public works department (PWD) and Road Safety Authority which makes dialogue on a long-term institutional reform agenda difficult. The World Bank has up- graded the overall implemen- tation progress of KSTP-2 from moderately unsatisfac- tory to moderately satisfac- tory in its June, 2016 report. This is due the improvement in the progress of civil works component of the project. Still, there are other opera- tional challenges that affect the progress of the project and the bank has highlighted the biggest problem of all the lack of a full-time project di- rector. It is critical that a full- time project director is ap- pointed to deal with day to day decisions which have led to improvements in the progress of the road projects, the re- port said. A major concern is the progress of the non-civil work components of the project. ie, road safety and road sector modernization. After starting off well, the road safety com- ponent has stalled, the report further observed. TIMES NEWS NETWORK H ow many of our bureaucrats have the expertise to see these projects through? asks D Naraya- na, director, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation. First thing they need is this expertise and then commitment. Even when you have a large number of tech- nical hands, they are poorly deployed and there is nothing great about their quality. I dont think the World Bank has gone into that many details, he added. Also, how many of these officers go for refresher train- ings and are up-to-date with latest technology? I doubt not too many. During good old days, you needed a high number of engineers, because you couldnt outsource the work as the private sector wasnt capable enough. Today it is a different story altogether, Narayana said. Narayana said Kerala should focus on efficiency of the government officials. When you have limited resources, you have to spend it much more effectively and we seem to be losing that game altogether. For a private investor, even one day lost is so many rupees or dollars of interest or additional costs, but for a public project, there is no accountability. The earlier you finish the project, the in- come starts flowing the very next day. Unless that kind of thinking comes to the corridors of power, I dont think we have an escape route, he said. CP John, former member, Kerala State Planning Board, said that the project implementation in Kerala had im- proved much, but not sufficiently. When you consider the 15 to 20 years of experience, Keralas institutional capabil- ity has improved a lot especially in the case of adopting new technology. We have been improving, but not up to the mark where we can, he said. John also talked about a factor which the World Bank hadnt highlighted the non-availability of raw materials. The major reason for the delayed projects is the issue of not getting sufficient raw materials people now wont allow you to use the natural resources for infrastructure development. The lacuna of the project implementation is an administrative-political consensus that could find a solution to those projects stalled by environmental activ- ism, he said. Political and Governance Macroeconomic Sector Strategies and Policies Technical Design of Project Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability Fiduciary Environmental and Social Stakeholders Overall Improve efficiency of govt officials TIMES NEWS NETWORK W hy do World Bank perceive that the risk is substantial in two ar- eas political and governance and institutional capacity for implementa- tion and sustainability for its road pro- jects in Kerala? The banks interim guidance note on SORT (Systematic Operations Risk-Rating Tool) explains the circumstances where they give substantial risk rating for po- litical and governance aspect: There is a substantial likelihood that political and governance factors could sig- nificantly impact the project development outcome. At the program level, the project development could be impacted by signifi- cant political uncertainty or transition The government has taken initial steps to improve transparency, accountability and participation, but with limited impact. The government has a set of development pri- orities, but they lack coherence and do not have broad-based political support. Some anti-corruption and public sector ethics regulations exist, but are only selectively enforced." While looking at the Institutional Ca- pacity for Implementation and Sustainabil- ity, the bank takes into account the insti- tutional capacity of the implementing agencies: There is a substantial likelihood that weak institutional capacity for implement- ing and sustaining the operation or opera- tional engagement may adversely impact the project development outcome...The implementing agencies have limited expe- rience with bank and other multilateral development partner operations. The im- plementing agencies have some in-house capacity, but external consultants play an important role in the design and day-to-day operation implementation. Staff turnover is substantial and they have limited access to relevant training. There are significant gaps in the agencies monitoring and eval- uation arrangements, and the lines of ac- countability are somewhat unclear. Scenarios where risk is rated substantial Road projects in Kerala hit by transfer of officials SUBSTANTIALMODERATELOW Source: Implementation Status and Results Report of World Bank KERALA KARNATAKA TELANGANA GUJARAT LIBERIA YEMEN TANZANIAANDHRA PRADESH TAMIL NADU Source: various World Bank projects (as on June 17, 2016) SUBSTANTIAL MODERATE LOW WORLD BANK RATINGS ON POLITICAL AND GOVERNANCE SYSTEMATIC OPERATIONS RISK-RATING OF KSTP-2 PROJECT Illustration: Gireesh, Graphic: Karthic R Kochi: Shedding more light on the origin of Kochis Jew population, a study conduc- ted by experts in United Sta- tes and Israel has found that theJewsfromKochihaddual ancestries, both Indian and Jewish. Previous studies had foundthattheyhadonlyIndi- an ancestry. The study titled Genetic History of Cochin Jews from India was conduc- tedby10expertsfromCornell University, Tel Aviv Universi- ty and Albert Einstein Colle- geof MedicineinNewYork. Dr Yedael Waldman from Tel Aviv Universitys depart- ment of molecular microbio- logy and biotechnology led the study. The study analysed the genetic history and struc- ture of 21 Jews from Kochi using genome-wide data. At present, only five Jews reside in Kochi, the rest have migra- ted to Israel. The DNA was collected in Israel several ye- ars ago and it was genotyped in USA. The data was analy- sedfortwoyears. A data analysis of DNA conducted as part of the stu- dy showed that Jewish gene flow into this community to- ok place approximately 470- 730 years ago, with contribu- tions from Yemenite, Sephar- di (Jews whose ancestors li- ved in Spain and Portugal) andMiddle-EasternJews. Waldmansaidthatin1492, Jews living in Spain were for- cedtoeitherconverttoChris- tianity or leave the country. Many chose to leave Spain andjoinedvariousJewishpo- pulations. A small group of them reached Kochi and joi- nedthelocalcommunity. The IBD analysis (which measures how many genom- ic segments, which reflect a recent common ancestor, are shared between individuals) alsoshowedthatCochinJews share significantly more DNA segments with Indian population. Among the Indi- anpopulationsGounder,Mal- la, Kshatriya and Brahmin communitiesshowedhighest IBD sharing with Cochin Jews. The genetic similarity between members of Cochin Jews is relatively high com- pared to other populations and it probably reflects high endogamy(customof marry- ing only within the limits of a local community, clan, or tri- be), he added. Endogamy in a population can increase the prevalenceof recessivedisea- ses. There are several disea- ses that are more frequent in theJewishcommunityof Ko- chicomparedtootherpopula- tions, mostly due to endoga- my,saidWaldman. The research was done as part of a series of studies to learn the genetic history of Jewish people. The project, called The Jewish HapMap was led by Prof Harry Ostrer from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Be- sidesKochiJews,hundredsof members from 15 other Je- wish diasporas including BeneIsraelinMumbaiand48 subdivisionsof theIndianpo- pulations were covered by thestudy. Kochi Jews have dual ancestries: US-Israel study TC.Sreemol@timesgroup.com LINE OF DESCENT: An outside view of the Mattancherry synagogue at Jew town in Kochi. At present, only five Jews reside in Kochi File photo Kochi: On Monday, the cen- tral police arrested a 61-year- old man from Thrissur on cheating charges. Paul Anto- ny was arrested on a compla- int filed by Brio Kurian and Lin- son of Thrissur after he collected asumof Rs1lakh each from them, promising jobsinPoland. The accused then pro- mptly went into hiding. He closeddownthefirmAl-Amal Enterprises Manpower Con- sultantsonChittoorRoadand opened another one Sun Po- intinthecity. Policesaidheoperatedthe firm without permission from the corporation. The ac- cused had been running the firm in Kochi for over 12 ye- ars, they said. Twoheldwithbanned tobacco:The Perumbavoor police on Monday arrested two people and seized 50,000 packets of tobacco products from them. The arrested have beenidentifiedasNizar(30)of Allapra and Kunjumuham- med (24) of Ottapalam. Faisal, another accused in the case, is at large. According to police, the spider team of rural supe- rintendent of Kochi seized the products that were bro- ught in an autorickshaw car- rying vegetables to Changa- nasserymarket. Man arrested for job fraud TIMES NEWS NETWORK FOR A GREEN FUTURE RK Sreejith A POSITIVE MOVE: Artists repaint the compound wall of Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal, with a fresh set of pictures on Sunday. Earlier, the wall had similar drawing that exhorted citizens to save their surroundings and planet Kochi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued an arrest warrant against Kunnathunads grama pan- chayat secretary for not re- sponding to its summons. The warrant, however, is bailable; the bail amount was set at Rs 25,000 Hearing a petition filed by K S Ravindran Nair see- king a freeze on the dest- ruction of a biodiversity spot in the panchayat, the court directed the secreta- ry to be present at the next hearing. The bench of Justice P Jyothimani, judicial mem- ber and expert committee member Ranjan Chatter- jee, restrained the felling of any tree in the area. With the secretary not appearing before the court, the court expressed the vi- ew that to prevent damage to the biodiversity in the area, there will be an order of status quo which exists as on date and it shall be maintained. The district collector shall ensure the compliance of this order scrupulously and file a sta- tus report on the next hea- ring on November 25, it sa- id. The NGT, on May 23, had directed the panchayat not to cut any trees along the pond and that order was ex- tended on August 8. The petitioner had con- tended that the biodiversi- ty spot was an ancient sa- cred grove which housed several endangered tree species and migratory birds. He submitted that pan- chayat officials in the gui- se of bringing a drinking water project were at- tempting to damage biodi- versity in an area spanning 55 cents and a pond. The petition said that there were 68 species of en- dangered plants which are to be protected. He sought an interim order to stop the felling of trees and drai- ning out the huge water bo- dy which was the source of underground water to seve- ral wells and agriculture farms in the area. The state pollution cont- rol board and the state bio- diversity board have been made respondents in the case. NGT issues warrant against panchayat secy Sudha.Nambudiri @timesgroup.com DESTRUCTION OF BIODIVERSITY TIMES CITYTHE TIMES OF INDIA, KOCHI | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016 ONLINE BOOKING FACILITY FOR UPCOMING SABARIMALA SEASON LAUNCHED | P4 WHO WOULD SHOW RED CARD TO VIGILANCE DIRECTOR JACOB THOMAS, ASKS CHENNITHALA | P5