Intervention (Hidden)
We propose to evaluate the effects of a new method for collecting high-quality, real-time data on program implementation: a high-frequency monitoring (HFM) system based on outbound phone calls to program beneficiaries. Under the proposed HFM system, a call center will place phone calls to program beneficiaries that collect information on their experience with a scheme. This information is collated and provided to the relevant parties within government.
In the context of our evaluation, this type of information aggregation system can have two main effects: 1) Motivate frontline officials towards better performance by providing reliable information on their performance to their superiors; and 2) Generate real-time data on locally-specific problems for resolution by local officials.
We study the effects of such a system in the context of government cash transfer program in the Indian state of Telangana in April-May 2018. This program, known as the Rythu Bandhu Scheme (RBS), is a flagship initiative of the state government that provides land-owning farmers with Rs. 4000 (approximately USD60) for each acre of land that they own. This money is intended to be distributed prior to each the growing season and used for agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and seeds. The money is distributed to farmers in the form of “order cheques”, which can be exchanged for cash at any bank branch of the bank listed on the cheque with identification that matches the name and unique id number listed on the cheque. The distribution of these cheques is carried out at a series of village meetings over the course of 10 days with the Department of Agriculture. The individuals distributing the cheques are agricultural extension workers, who are overseen by “mandal agricultural officers”. These mandal agricultural officers are the focus of our intervention and oversee the Department of Agriculture work within the level of a “mandal” (a geographical agglomeration of approximately 65,000 people).
Given the value of money being distributed (approximately US$2 billion per year), the state government was concerned about problems in implementation. Among their worries were that cheques would not reach the intended beneficiaries, that there may be corruption during the distribution process (e.g. those distributing the cheques demanded payment for handing them out), or that there would be delays in distribution, a major concern given the need to purchase agricultural inputs within a particular time window.
The high frequency monitoring call center collects information on: 1) whether the farmer received their cheque; 2) date of cheque receipt; 3) whether they encashed their cheque; 4) problems in receipt of the check (e.g. asked to pay money, delays); 5) problems in encashing of cheque; 6) satisfaction with the scheme; 7) other feedback on the scheme. Calls will be made via some combinations of human phone surveyors and interactive voice response calls, where recipients indicate their responses via a touch-tone system. We will test the relative efficacy of each system and provide recommendations on best practices going forward (e.g. how to reweight responses from automated calls). The HFM system will complete calls with approximately 100 farmers per mandal in each round of calling. This information will be compiled into reports to state, district, and mandal level officials. These reports will not identify individual phone respondents for the sake of their privacy, only aggregate information.