Inter-District Inequalities in Social Service Delivery: A Rationalized Approach towards funds disbursement,

Abstract

Social sector development in Pakistan has been the focus of researchers over past decades but coverage of these services still remains limited. Although, considerable amount of resources have been allocated for social service delivery, people at large have suffered from existing inequalities in delivery of these services. Utilizing the MICS 2007-083 dataset, we look at the prevailing inequalities in access to education, health, physical infrastructure and social safety nets across the districts of Punjab. We highlight the weaknesses of public institutions in providing social services and acknowledge the contribution of the private sector in improving access to these services. The paper emphasizes the need for an adequate allocation of resources from the provincial government to the districts in order to remove the growing inequalities within districts and between districts. An effective approach for funds disbursement from the provinces to the districts should be based upon the current level of access to social services. This paper attempts to establish a rationalized methodology for funds distribution at the district level, so that a larger population has access to basic services. The outcome of declining inequality in social service delivery will help the lot of lagging districts, and may limit inter-district migration to some extent.