Public Management Insights for a Better Bihar
LEVERAGING GOVERNMENT ANALYTICS TO IMPROVE SERVICE DELIVERY.
OVERVIEW
Public Management in Bihar (provisional report)
Evidence from a survey of more than 1,700 public sector employees
OVERVIEW
Executive Summary
AT A GLANCE
38 districts
across Bihar
>1,700 interviews
across four departments
The survey included three levels of the administration tasked with policy implementation: district, block, and frontline and was conducted between December 2024 and March 2025, covering all 38 districts of Bihar. A total of 1,767 responses was gathered with 84 from the district-level, 311 from the block-level, and 1372 from the frontline. In addition, 1,000 schools, 893 health (sub-)centers, 957 anganwadis, and 734 offices at district, block, and Gram Panchayat level were surveyed to record infrastructure, staff attendance, and service-specific outputs. All surveys were conducted in-person. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive public employee survey of this kind in Bihar.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
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Undertake specific programs and initiatives to ensure a higher number of women, non-General castes, and socio-economically poorer candidates aspires for and succeeds in reaching managerial leadership roles through outreach, career counselling, and handholding.
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Work on building trust across the bureaucratic hierarchy and simultaneously redesign the workdays of frontline staff to avoid repetitive tasks and those with a lack of perceived purpose.
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Reconsider the purpose of utilising technology: rather than increasing surveillance and reporting requirements, rebalance the use of technology to assist rather than surveil frontline staff, and utilise technology to automate odd tasks that cost frontline staff time.
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Recognise the importance of block-level managers and invest in their offices, fill vacancies swiftly and regularly, and consider equipping block officers with vehicles for field visits.
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Leverage the pro-poor potential of managerial bureaucrats and recognise their leadership role and the importance of their management practices at block- and district-level for frontline motivation. Prepare state cadre bureaucrats for their leadership role through dedicated training and mentoring at BIPARD.
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Invest in office infrastructure including female toilets to prepare the ground for more women in leadership positions.
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Urgently undertake capital investments in frontline facilities including anganwadis and health (sub-)centers through convergence with VB — G RAM G prioritising those districts currently lagging most (such as low-literacy districts).
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Consider increasing job security and renumeration for frontline staff (especially for health and social welfare) and signal that steady wages are an expression of recognition for their hard work.
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Bundle capital investments in office and frontline infrastructure with rekindling trust between managerial bureaucrats and frontline staff to allow a synergy effect to materialise.
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Consider undertaking continuous and regular government analytics to get a pulse of how managerial bureaucrats and frontline staff feel about their work.
SPOTLIGHT: ANGANWADIS
39%
working toilet
49%
Electricity
More than half of anganwadis and health centers do not have a working toilet and only around one in five has tap water. Improving this basic infrastructure is essential to improve working conditions for the female workforce providing these essential services to citizens.
This needs to be addressed on a priority basis. Anganwadi infrastructure is particularly poor with only around half having electricity. Many anganwadis do not have permanent, government-owned buildings and are generally in a dilapidated condition. Anganwadis are key to the future of Bihar and tasked with providing the most essential services for mothers and Bihar’s youngest children.
SAMPLE
Our Sample in Numbers
1,767
In-person interviews
1,000
Schools
893
Health (sub-)centers
957
Anganwadis
