Institutional Failure, State Failure or the Failure of ‘Civil’ Society?

Abstract

With only half of Pakistan’s rural population provided water through government sources, many observers may well be led to believe that this is a clear case of government failure. Yet, such conclusions ignore the way development thinking has changed over time. Currently, the new way of providing infrastructure and social services relies increasingly on communities, NGOs and the private sector, with the role of government considerably curtailed. In the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) sector, it is the Uniform Policy which now dominates planning and implementation Unfortunately, succumbing to donor pressure, an ill-devised Policy has been approved for the sector which requires prerequisites which are just not available. A socially sensitive engineering department, and organised and active communities, which are the cornerstone of the Uniform Policy, do not exist. Hence the failure of the new thinking in the RWSS sector. While institutional failure and government sclerosis may be amongst the more critical causes of failed service delivery, it may perhaps be more instructive to analyse such institutions in a broader political economy perspective, where reasons for the failure of the state as much as of ‘civil’ society, may provide more useful answers. The evaluation of any institution or sector is likely to draw some, or possibly many, parallels with the overall structure within which it functions. Institutions and sectors within the confines of state and/or government are likely to reflect some of the qualities, good or bad, of the larger whole in which they exist. While specific sectors and institutions may possibly be at odds with the culture, or way of governing, which is considered to be the norm and convention, one can safely speculate that in a country where it is believed that the larger institutions of the state like the judiciary, police, and government are corrupt, inefficient, suffer from administrative failure, donor interference, political machinations and vested interests of the most petty kind, smaller institutions and sectors like health, education, and rural water supply, are unlikely to be very different. This paper addresses issues of institutional and policy success and failure within the context of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector (RWSS) in Pakistan, keeping in view that perhaps we are evaluating a sector within what is increasingly being called a ‘Failed State’. Equally important, is the assertion that it is not just the state which is increasingly failing, but more importantly, those sections which constitute ‘civil’ society, as well.2 The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) Sector in Pakistan provides coverage to, at best, around fifty percent who have access to sanitation facilities.3 With ninety million inhabitants in the rural areas, this means that around forty five million do not have access to safe drinking water, and around 76 million do not have basic sanitation facilities.4 The consequences of such a severe shortage, in terms of ill-health, disease and morbidity and mortality patterns is well reflected in Pakistan’s overall health status. The reasons for such poor coverage include geophysical, demographic and economic factors. The government renews its pledge to provide safe drinking water to all, and currently, the Pakistan National Perspective Plan 1998-2003, has set a target of complete access to drinking water for all Pakistanis, whether urban or rural; sanitation facilities are to be provided to all urban inhabitants by the end of the Plan, and to an ambitious 60 per cent of the rural sector. However, institutional and financial constraints continue to play a formidable role in making water unavailable to the majority of rural Pakistanis. In order to understand the role of institutions and policy in the RWSS sector in Pakistan, this paper briefly discusses the main social and economic features that influence the sector.