Multi-stakeholder perspective of the documentary "Katiyabaaz' in electricity deficit of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

As part of the course 'Engineering, economics and regulation for energy access in developing countries' at MIT, we were recommended to watch a documentary titled 'Katiyabaaz' by our course instructor Prof. Ignacio. Having spent most of my growing up years in urban or 'Lutyens' Delhi, the term Katiyabaaz didn't ring a bell! However, I was intrigued by the documentary, especially since it did not seem to have a detailed review online, yet had won many awards at the time of its launch in 2014. I requested the very kind TA (SL) of the course to let me borrow the DVD and on a bright sunny afternoon, booked a desktop in Hayden Library, playing the DVD. SL and I had tried capturing the gist earlier during the recitation class, however, the documentary's far too many dimensions got lost during our selective scan.

The documentary began with a scene that is typical to a semi-urban Indian landscape, spatially, and with regard to other physical and social settings. The statistics cited that out of 150 million people without electricity in the world, 40 million were in India: 3 million living in the city of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The city also has been one of the largest industrial centers of the country, yet out of a population of 2.7 million in need of electricity connection, the local distribution company KESCO could provide connections to only 0.5 million people. Kanpur also has been among the 10 most polluted cities in the world. The documentary showcased the interplay of the many stakeholders around the problem of availability of electricity to end users.

The various stakeholders that I identified are the following:

1. KESCO
2. MD, KESCO
3. MDs family/ children
4. KESCO employees
5. Patrol team
6. Linemen
7. MLA - Irfan Solanki
8. Local police
9. Various political parties that campaign during 2012 elections - Congress, BSP etc. (Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati)
10. PM of India
11. Consumers
12. Fined electricity consumers
13. Bill defaulters
14. Loha Singh - Katiyabaaz
15. Loha Singh's family
16. Loha Singh's supporters
17. Loha Singh's relatives
18. Poor population - daily wagers (Rakesh)
19. Large businesses
20. Business that shut shop
21. Small businessmen
22. Shopkeepers
23. Women - crying, praying to god for electricity
24. Little children - on road at night due to lack of electricity 
25. Other sleepless population due to lack of electricity 
26. Old people
27. Muslim family - Ramadan
28. Young girls and boys who learn katiya

Context

The backdrop of severe electricity shortage in the city of Kanpur gave rise to Katiya - meaning plugging in wires in the existing connections to get electricity illegally. The person who at the cost of his life did Katiya - fueled by a vicious social pressure rather than monetary incentive was called Katiyabaaz, played by Loha Singh that translated to Iron man - a locally stylized yet strong youth who decided to stand up for the society that promoted his profession.

Measures for curbing losses

When the MD - Ritu Maheshwari, played by a real-life IAS officer took over KESCO, she gave bold orders to deal with mass electricity theft to recover part of the Rs. 2 billion losses. Immediate steps included identification of locations of theft, FIRs and penalties for stealing electricity, vigorous campaigns in areas with maximum transmission losses including raids and early morning patrols as katiya was done during late night and removed in the mornings: this was to to basically ensure that carelessness in revenue collection and lapse in customer service was not tolerated. The MD took the stand that electricity could not be provided free of cost, and theft was done by both the poor and rich. With huge losses to the department, the government was unable to pay for the electricity produce. Some of  the other consumer-centered steps taken by her were: establishing a call center for quick repairs and electricity restoration, having 'town hall' meetings with consumers and stakeholders, facilitating electronic bill payments, sending mobile alerts to registered numbers for power cuts, among few others. This was to improve the credibility of KESCO, which had the reputation of cheating and robbing consumers, who ultimately relied on 'god' for provision of reliable electricity. These steps also built a sense of ownership in employees, improving the inter-personal relationship between the consumers and KESCO.

Adversities 

However, the above steps remained short-lived! When temperature soared to 47'C during summers, people returned to stealing power fearlessly and more aggressively. They blamed the MD for making them suffer, as power cuts exceeded the promised time limits. Stakeholders questioned, verbally attacked and threatened the MD, and infrastructure is observed to be crumbling due to overloading. The employees and linemen of KESCO are manhandled as consumers believed that power cuts were due to lack of electricity generation, with KESCO lacking the ability to provide power as promised in the first place. This leads to a law and order situation, as people take to the streets with anti-government slogans, burning effigies of the MD. The documentary also captured the divide between the local politician, with a populist stance and the MD, who stood like a rock to act on her principles. 

The reaction and assessment of various stakeholders is done in the matrix below:    

Conclusion and way forward      

The end of the documentary is predictable as the MD is transferred to a central government posting within a year. She made a statement that if she took bold steps, 'she would be gone', hence she must take steps that are doable or incremental in nature. Her incremental actions reduce the losses of KESCO by 30%. As a women, she is shown balancing her professional and personal life with two very young children.   

Ritu Maheshwari's story was covered as an inspiration for spearheading several other power system initiatives in the country. From her message, I wonder, what is the right time for a civil servant to take the bold steps - which stakeholder among the above could be relied for support at a time when the government's tendency is to be risk-averse in the short-term?

Why write a policy brief - an Indian perspective!

During my Masters at the London School of Economics and Political Science, we spent an entire semester acquiring skills to write policy brief, also known as policy memo. It was a rigorous exercise. Just understanding a problem clearly took a month! We relied on credible sources of information i.e. the documents published by the Home Office of the Government of United Kingdom, which was headed by Ms. Theresa May in 2014. Often, documents known as "Consultation Papers" published by administrative ministries seek public opinion or stakeholder engagement, where sophistical tools like policy briefs could aid decision-making within the government. In India, the practice of public consultation has not been new: many regulatory agencies, line ministries and houses of parliament seek comments from public on matters of national importance. 

Generally, there is no format for responding to the consultation papers, so stakeholders send their comments as notes or opinion pieces, which may be published on the websites of these agencies. Even the country's prime and refurbished think tank, NITI Aayog does not have any section for publishing or accepting policy briefs, like many of the international counterparts and development agencies. Given this backdrop, one must ask if it is of use to learn and acquire skills in writing policy briefs in India.

Policy briefs internationally do not have a standardized format or acceptable length. Some may go in for a 700-word brief, while others mandate a piece that could be up to 2,500-3,000 words long. However, India being a democracy that cherishes opposing views, and off-late disruptive ones, objective or critical policy briefs are more suited for India's environment. What this essentially means is that the author(s) must critically evaluate both sides of the views and present recommendations that are thoroughly analysed and scientifically backed. It would be an interesting exercise to check some of the policy briefs of Indian think tanks that are mandated to publish policy briefs since they are funded by international funding agencies, which find this task a good think tank/ policy advocacy outcome/ practice. However, streamlining this practice in the government machinery still remains a challenging task as till date decision-making is intrinsically an internal activity. Social media is a close influence to policy choice, however, evidence lacks this claim to date.

So the question remains: how does a common citizen, researcher or a policy entrepreneur engage with the government in a transparent manner and influence government decisions? 

Among other official and unofficial approaches, investing time in writing a policy brief is an effective exercise! It not just brings clarity in complex problems of public policy, but also facilitates decision-making. Many times, government engages with stakeholders behind closed doors. Under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, one could question the intent of the government, however, it remains a cumbersome process. The discretion and perception of the designated official(s) attending to the RTI prevails. Social media has made a remarkable change in governance in many countries. However, it continues to lack confidence as authenticity of social media account holders cannot be verified in many cases, so the genuineness of information is under question. Participating in policy-making in a more scientific and creative manner could thus be a win-win for both the government and external member. There is however, a need to communicate with the government as a trained professional, to gauge their interest yet being precise. This is the skill where writing a policy brief comes handy.

Since there is no standard practice for writing policy briefs, a tested analytical framework for problem solving known as the Bardach's Eightfold Path for policy analysis is highly useful and recommended for beginners for writing a policy brief. While there are a number of think tanks and international agencies like IDRC, ICPA and the FAO that attempt to provide a practitioner's view in writing policy briefs, Bardach's academic approach breaks the policy problem into clusters that could be objectively followed like an algorithm, providing rational set of solution(s). The 8 steps are as follows:

1.    Define the problem

2.    Assemble some evidence

3.    Construct the alternatives

4.    Select the criteria

5.    Project the outcomes

6.    Confront the trade-offs

7.    Decide

8.    Tell your story

Mastering writing a policy brief using the above framework could be done by referring to the book: 

Bardach, E. (2012). A practical guide for policy analysis: The eightfold path to more effective problem solving (4th ed.). Los Angeles: Thousand Oaks: Sage; CQ Press.

One must get the brief reviewed by a qualified policy practitioner before submitting to the correct stakeholder.

Some FAQs on Policy Brief that compiled from a workshop I had taken at Bangalore, India last year are shared for more insights on the topic:

FAQs on Policy Brief

1.           Where can policy briefs be published?

Since policy briefs express your position about an issue or area of interest, the most common medium for publishing it would be online. Many organisations with an active interest in policy matters have a dedicated section of their website to policy briefs. As an individual, you can publish it on the website of a government agency in response to their request for stakeholder comments. You can also send these directly to the respective government/ state heads through the offline/ official route.   

2.           Who is the audience for policy brief?

Ideally, the main audience for policy briefs are decision-makers within the government as they form part of the 'executive' or facilitate implementation of policies. Policy briefs can also be addressed to 'elected representatives' who currently hold an official position in the government. However, since the issues addressed in policy briefs affect people at large, it must be written in a clear and concise manner, in a language that could be understood by a layperson.     

3.           What should be the length of policy brief?

Generally, policy briefs should not exceed 2,000-2,500 words or 7-8 pages. It is however, a good idea to keep it restricted to 1,500 words or up to 4 pages.

4.           Which are the online/ offline mediums where policy briefs can be sent in India?

Since policy briefs are an instrument to communicate with the policy-makers, there   are a number of government websites where these can be submitted. For e.g. the website of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regularly publishes consultation papers for comments from various stakeholders. Similarly, NITI Aayog, the think tank of the Government of India, the Ministry of Finance and several other government agencies publish various reports and papers, where 'policy   enthusiasts' could use policy briefs as a tool for communicating with the government.

At present, there is no format for submitting your comments on policy matters to the central or state governments India. Both private sector and individuals use their own online/ offline formats that run into pages, losing essence for the reader. Policy brief can, therefore be an effective and powerful tool, given the current scenario in India and many other countries. 

5.           What are some of the common formats for preparing policy briefs?

Although there is no international standardized format for preparing policy briefs, the 8-fold tool taught discussed in the blog is one of the most effective techniques in providing an evidence-based solution to a given policy problem. A number of international organisations, think tanks, NGOs and private sector agencies use their own formats.

Some of them can be viewed below for reference:

·     Australian National University

·     CTA Publishing

·     OECD    

Agencies in USA also publish policy briefs in a format that will be discussed in future.