Associate Linda Bedenik and Analyst Reva Abrol write in The Print on government service delivery in sanitation under "mission mode". Excerpts:

"Political promises to fix India’s service delivery and welfare implementation problems are staples of every election. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the resolute and fashionable phrase ‘mission mode’ has made it into these promises, including the BJP’s. The party promised to expand irrigation and digitise land records in ‘mission mode’. On Sunday’s Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India said needs a Swachh Bharat-like water conservation mission.

And yet, no one knows what the term really means. We even asked seasoned policy experts and IAS officers to explain it to us. How is a government ‘mission’ different from its already existing programmes, campaigns and schemes? We found no consensus.

As commitments toward social protection rise around the world, India has a responsibility to plan for better public service delivery. Programmes like Swachh Bharat Mission will give policymakers valuable lessons as they confront the thorny task of rethinking governance."

Read the full article here.