Public financial management, state capacity, and public services in India Santhosh Mathew, Bhumi Purohit, Devesh Sharma

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mathew, Santhosh, author.

Purohit, Bhumi, author.

Śarmā, Deveśa, author.

Series:

Institutions and development in South Asia series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Finance, Public--India.

Finance, Public.

India.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford Oxford University Press [2026]

Summary:

Even when public programmes are well-funded and well-designed, why do they fail to deliver? While existing research in political economy has identified various challenges affecting public service delivery, This work unveils a critical, yet often overlooked factor: the architecture of public finance, particularly expenditure management systems. Drawing from existing literature, field experience, and primary data from government officials and citizens, Mathew, Purohit, and Sharma provide a compelling analysis of how India's public finance management system contributes to pervasive governance challenges. The book proposes a series of innovative reforms, termed 'on-demand architecture', that aim to provide both funds and real-time data about those funds to effectively improve India's public finance management and responsiveness of service providers to citizens, civic society, and other stakeholders

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Series

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Disclaimer

Preface

Acknowledgments

Contents

1 Introduction

1.1 Book Organization

1.2 Situating PFM within a Broader Set of Reforms

1.3 Conclusion

2 The Existing Narratives of India's Public Service Delivery Challenges

2.1 Political Economy Challenges

2.2 Institutional Challenges

2.3 Expenditure Management as Integral to State Fiscal Capacity

2.4 Our Wedge in the Conversation: Public Financial Management for Public Service Delivery

2.4.1 Objectives of PFM

2.5 Conclusion

3 History of Public Financial Management Reforms

3.1 Global Reforms

3.2 A Centralized British Legacy in India

3.3 Modern Day Reforms in India

3.3.1 Digitized Treasury and Payment Systems

3.3.2 Budget Management

3.3.3 Direct Benefit Transfer and Aadhaar

3.3.4 Other Reforms

3.3.5 Unrealized Reforms

3.4 Conclusion

4 Architectural Challenges in India's Public Financial Management

4.1 Budget Formation and Allocation

4.2 Budget Execution

4.2.1 Intergovernmental Transfers

4.2.2 Expenditure Management

4.3 Budget Monitoring and Evaluation

4.3.1 Vouchers and Utilization Certificates

4.3.2 Accountant General and the Audit

4.4 Architectural Design

4.4.1 Observability and Synchroneity within PFM Events

4.4.2 Observability and Synchroneity between PFM and Programmatic Events

4.5 Conclusion

5 Consequences of Public Financial Management Architecture on Public Service Delivery

5.1 Float

5.2 Incentives for Deciding When to Pay Recipients

5.3 Administrative Burdens

5.4 Delays and Uncertainty

5.5 Corruption

5.6 Poor Auditing

5.7 Data and Citizen-based Accountability

5.8 Conclusion

6 Public Financial Management: From Good to Great

6.1 Three Architectural Shifts

6.1.1 Principle 1: Coupling Programmatic and Fiscal Events

6.1.1.1 Enabling Coupling: Data Exchanges through Data Standards and Platforms

6.1.2 Principle 2: Co-ordinating Programmatic and Fiscal Events

6.1.2.1 Enabling Co-ordinating: Rules as Code

6.1.3 Principle 3: Making Programmatic and Fiscal Data Available on Demand

6.2 System Properties of the Architecture

6.2.1 Data Protection by Design

6.2.2 Data Liquidity

6.2.3 The Once-only Principle

6.2.4 Improving Data Credibility at Source

6.3 Conclusion

7 Outcomes of Proposed Changes in the Architecture

7.1 Just-in-Time Funding

7.2 Smart Payments

7.3 The Experience Layer of Digital Systems for Various Use Cases

7.4 Architectural Shifts and Outcomes

7.5 Conclusion

8 Institutionalizing Improvements in Public Finance Management

8.1 Recognizing and Addressing Incentives

8.2 Agile Development

8.3 Asynchronous Onboarding

8.4 Institutional Changes

8.5 Conclusion

9 Conclusion: Risks and Opportunities

9.1 Addressing Risks

9.2 Other Risks

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description based on online resource and publisher information; title from PDF title page (viewed on March 9, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version :

ISBN:

9780198973195

0198973195

0198973160

9780198973164

OCLC:

1578081031

Publisher Number:

CIPO000362455

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license