Evaluation of Public Service Training in India: Providers, Consumers, and Outcome

CONTENTS 27.1 Introduction .........................................................................................................450 27.2 Th e Evaluation of Performance of LBSNAA ........................................................451 27.3 Techniques of Training ........................................................................................451 27.4 Eff ectiveness of Training ......................................................................................454 27.5 Need for Change and Response ............................................................................457 27.6 Utility of Training ................................................................................................459 27.7 Perception of LBSNAA ....................................................................................... 460 27.8 Balancing the Views of Providers and Customers .................................................461 Acknowledgment ........................................................................................................... 462 Notes ............................................................................................................................. 462 References ...................................................................................................................... 463

27.1 Introduction Th e advent of new public management has ushered in a number of changes that have had a profound impact on the production and delivery of public services. Among its many features, perhaps, the least controversial is the emphasis on performance of agencies and the satisfaction of their customers. Th e most common method of assessing the performance of public agencies is to seek the opinions of the consumers of a particular service. Th is arrangement has its merits, but it is now realized that “measurement is not a science but a negotiated craft” (Trosa, 1997, p. 244). Fountain (2001), however, pointed out that an overemphasis on customer satisfaction could obscure the fact that public organizations do not exist only for serving and ensuring the satisfaction of customers. Not only are there inherent diffi culties in measuring services that are intangible in nature, but there are also important elements related to the operation of the system that may escape the framework and arrangements for evaluation.