Urban Local Bodies like Municipal Corporations, Municipalities or the Town Improvement Boards etc. are mandated to provide primary /basic services a city needs. Such bodies deliver services based on the needs of the people they serve. Urban Local Bodies can increase public satisfaction and reduce costs in delivering the services. Tasks like Water Supply, Sanitation, Roads, Electricity, Parks and playgrounds, paying taxes and applying for benefits are the most tangible interactions citizens have with their government. Services are therefore critical in shaping trust in and perceptions of the public. Citizens today expect more transparent, accessible, and responsive services from the Govt. and the expectations are rising.
Many ULBs have made efforts to improve service delivery through online portals like centralized call centers, but find they are still unable to meet the public’s expectations. Citizens complain and convey through several means including social media that they feel frustrated by cumber some procedures as well as confusing websites. They also resort to speak with multiple parties before their questions are answered or request is completed. As a result, governments/ ULBs face declining citizen satisfaction and lose the public trust. Conversely, the Government despite bearing increased costs fail to meet the public expectations. It is also a part of the problem is that despite their best intentions, many ULBs continue to design and deliver services based on their own requirements and conventional patterns instead of the needs of the people. Some local bodies have success fully implemented a customer-centric approach to service design and delivery.
Change does not happen over night. Identifying which services citizens find most problematic and measuring the extent of dissatisfaction is one way the municipal organization can prioritize areas for improvement. Transforming service delivery begins with understanding citizens’ needs and priorities. We may draw an interactive and proresponsive approach to better understand the needs, as Let citizens tell matters need most, Asking people which aspects of service delivery are most and need improvement is the first requirement. Most people will say every aspect is equally important but it is not always correct to assume. It infers that rather than asking citizens to rank the importance of different aspects, it will be in the fitness to listen as to what they want across the services. This method may provide more reliable insights into users’ needs and priorities. The Govt. may accordingly work on such aspects to first, know the sentiments of people and concentrate on the basic needs of the citizens.
Identify areas for customer satisfaction:
Resources vis-a-vis the citizens’ need and measures to achieve a balance are most important. It is well known that the money lies under the authority of the legislature. Nothing can be met if adequate funds are not earmarked for an aspect. Municipal councillors and Peoples’ representatives in the Government can find a balance between delivering high quality, responsive services and managing resources effectively by using citizen-satisfaction services to determine acceptable service levels. One way to do that is by identifying break points—the point at which delays or service shortfalls cause customer satisfaction to drop significantly. Using this technique there may be optimal chance to identify the citizen satisfaction.