XKDR Newsletter - Issue 5
Timeliness in government contracting at the Delhi Metro • Crime Victimisation Surveys in India
Timeliness in government contracting: Evidence from the country’s largest metro-rail network
Anirudh Burman and Pavithra Manivannan use three distinct data sets to understand the timeliness of government contracting in projects undertaken by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). They analyze the time taken for overall project implementation by DMRC as well as the time taken at different stages of the contracting processes.
Key findings:
DMRC is prompt in certain stages of the contracting processes - awarding of tenders and payment to vendors, but the overall project implementation suffers from time overruns.
DMRC takes about 3 months to award a contract, and about 4 days to clear its payment dues to vendors.
Overall project delays could be attributed to misaligned allocation of scope and risk in procurement contracts and poor contract management.
Crime Victimisation Surveys in Indian Criminal Justice System Reform
Policy thinking on the criminal justice system has traditionally emphasized inputs (expenditures, recruitment) and outputs (trials, prisoners). In their paper, Ajay Shah and Renuka Sane argue that it is also important to measure outcomes, that is, the safety as seen by residents. They analyze the importance of crime victimization surveys which deliver outcomes measurement. Their work reviews the developments in this measurement program in India in recent years and suggests improvements for the way forward.