Question: What is meant by public hearing? Mention the major subjects of public hearings and briefly discuss the concepts of the Citizen Report Card and Exit Feedback associated with public hearings.
Meaning of Public Hearing
A public hearing is a process through which responsible officials of a public institution and concerned citizens engage in public questioning, interaction and discussion on the activities of the institution and matters of public concern.
Public hearing is regarded as an important tool for promoting the social accountability of public institutions. During a public hearing, citizens and civil society organizations directly or indirectly affected by the policies, plans, decisions and activities of a public institution participate in the programme, raise questions or concerns, and seek responses from the responsible officials.
Major Subjects of Public Hearing
Generally, the following matters may be discussed during a public hearing:
- Commitments made during the previous public hearing, efforts made to fulfil those commitments, and the results of the Citizen Report Card and Exit Feedback;
- Management of public complaints and suggestions relating to service delivery;
- The policies, programmes, budget and progress of the public institution;
- Reports of social audits and public audits;
- Matters relating to a specific project when there is a written request from local people or a request from development partners for a public hearing on a project or matter of public importance; and
- In the case of large-scale projects having significant environmental, economic or social impacts, matters arising from a public hearing conducted before the commencement of the project to collect the views and suggestions of stakeholders.
Citizen Report Card
A Citizen Report Card is a form of feedback provided by service users to a service-providing institution based on their direct experiences, observations and interactions while receiving services.
It provides a mechanism through which citizens can express their views regarding the quality of services provided by a public institution and its overall managerial and institutional performance. Thus, it represents an overall assessment of service delivery by citizens and serves as an important tool for making public institutions responsive and accountable.
The Citizen Report Card is presented during the public hearing in the presence of persons who directly participated in its preparation. Citizens also have a responsibility to provide objective, factual and fair responses while preparing the report card. Their assessments should reflect their actual experiences rather than personal bias.
Exit Feedback
Exit Feedback refers to the opinion or immediate response expressed by a service recipient after receiving a service and leaving the service-providing institution. It represents the citizen's immediate assessment of the service received.
It can also serve as a mechanism for assessing the extent to which a public institution has honestly fulfilled the commitments publicly stated through its Citizen Charter.
The results of Exit Feedback are presented during the public hearing in the presence of the relevant respondents. It helps identify the strengths and weaknesses of a public institution through citizens' fresh feedback on matters such as:
- Commitments made through the Citizen Charter;
- Behaviour and conduct of employees;
- Citizens' experience while receiving services; and
- Overall quality and accessibility of service delivery.
Exit Feedback can also be used as an important tool for developing a system in which service recipients evaluate service-providing employees and assign scores based on their service experience.
Conclusion
Public hearing is an important instrument for making public institutions responsible and accountable to service recipients and for promoting good governance. During a public hearing, Citizen Report Card and Exit Feedback reports are presented, drawing the attention of public institutions to the weaknesses and shortcomings identified through citizen feedback.
Public institutions can use legitimate concerns raised by stakeholders as suggestions and constructive feedback and make commitments to improve their performance. Moreover, since the implementation status of commitments made during a previous public hearing is presented in the subsequent hearing, regular public hearings can strengthen transparency, responsiveness, accountability and citizen-centred service delivery.