The World Bank has given 'substantial' risk ratings for its road projects in Kerala in the areas of 'political and governance' and 'institutional capacity for implementation and sustainability'. These high risk ratings are due to factors like political interference in projects, poor quality of work, delays in payments and decision making, frequent transfers of officials, and lack of sustainability plans. While the overall risk rating for Kerala has reduced from 'substantial' to 'moderate', two World Bank funded projects - the Kerala State Transport Project 2 and another project - continue to have 'substantial' risk ratings for these two areas. Experts say that lack of expertise among bureaucrats, insufficient training, and focus on project efficiency could be contributing to the high

1. A ‘RISKY’ STATE OF AFFAIRSProjectsInKeralaGet
‘Substantial’RiskRating
FromWorldBankUnder
TwoCategories
Shenoy.Karun@Timesgroup.com
I
f Malayalis earnestly believe that they enjoy a better
political and governance system than that of their
neighbours, then they might be terribly wrong – at
the least from World Bank’s perspective. A compar-
ison of the World Bank’s ratings for its projects in
Kerala and other Southern Indian states show that the
risk factor is ‘substantial’ for two categories in Kerala –
‘Political and Governance’ and ‘Institutional Capacity for
Implementation and Sustainability’. Some of the African
countries riddled with armed conflicts and civil wars have
a better rating than Kerala regarding political and govern-
ance aspect.
For rating various aspects that could pose risk to their
projects, the World Bank uses Systematic Operations Risk-
Rating Tool (SORT). The ratings are usually presented in
the periodical implementation status and results report
of individual projects. There is an overall risk rating.
Then, going deep, risk of eight aspects of the project are
rated – political and governance’ macroeconomic, sector
strategies and policies, technical design of project, insti-
tutional capacity for implementation and sustainability,
fiduciary, stakeholders, environmental and social. Based
on the intensity of the risk, the rating might be low, mod-
erate, substantial or high.
In Kerala’s case, the overall risk rating has come down
from the ‘substantial’ to ‘moderate’ during the last three
years. However, what is worrying is the ‘substantial’ SORT
rating for two aspects of on-going World Bank-part-funded
Kerala State Transport Project – 2 (KSTP-2), a five-year pro-
ject which began in July 2013. The International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) is funding
$216millionof thetotalexpectedprojectcostof $445million.
The World Bank spokesperson clarified that they are
addressing the substantial risk regarding ‘Institutional
Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability’. “The
implementation risks are currently being mitigated
through improved contract management framework, IT-
based project management tool, and streamlined contract
administration procedures,” the response said.
However, the World Bank’s official reply on substantial
risk regarding political and governance aspect, was a clear
attempt to play down the risk ratings for Kerala. “The
rating that you quote is not the current assessment and
is not specific to the state or the project. This rating dates
back to 2012 when the Project Appraisal Document was
being prepared. The current risk rating is moderate,” the
email reply said. However, the World Bank’s periodical
reports on implementation status and results of KSTP-2
dating back to December 2014, proves the spokesperson
wrong. From that report onwards, SORT was used for risk
rating and the political and governance aspect was given
‘substantial’ rating. In its latest implementation status
and results report of KSTP-2, which came out on June 17,
2016, the risk rating for two aspects ‘Political and Govern-
ance’ and ‘Institutional Capacity for Implementation and
Sustainability’ are substantial.
“World Bank officials might downplay the substantial
risk rating as the Kerala Government is a client of them
and the bank couldn’t survive alienating its clients,” a
policy maker commented on conditions of anonymity.
The April 2013 project appraisal document on KSTP-2
sheds light on those two aspects which still retain the
‘substantial’ risk ratings. According to the document,
these aspects pose governance challenges to the current
project: political interference in project implementation,
poor quality of works, delayed payments to contractors,
delayed decision-making, repeated termination and rebid-
ding of contracts, poor sustainability arrangements for
roads and lack of mechanisms for adequate citizen feed-
back and public disclosure.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
W
h i l e t h u m b i n g
through the project
appraisal document
of KSTP-2, one gets the feeling
that World Bank officials have
a fair understanding of the
ground realities in Kerala.
Here is the taster - “World-
wide, the construction sector
is perceived to be most suscep-
tible to corruption, and espe-
cially so in public works con-
tracts. India’s road sector (and
by extension, Kerala’s road
sector) suffers from some of
the same issues applicable to
the road construction indus-
try elsewhere: project delays
due to issues in land acquisi-
tion and rehabilitation and/or
environmental clearances,
poor coordination among de-
partments, law and order
problems in some areas, fre-
quent design changes, poor
project planning, funding and
management, pseudo joint
ventures, contractual failures,
resource constraints and cor-
ruption in the construction
industry”.
Further, talking specifi-
cally about its experience in
road building in Kerala (KSTP-
1 was also part-funded by the
bank), the World Bank’s ap-
praisal document highlights
the frequent transfers of offi-
cials in Kerala. “There is par-
ticularly high turn-over of
senior staff within public
works department (PWD) and
Road Safety Authority which
makes dialogue on a long-term
institutional reform agenda
difficult.”
The World Bank has up-
graded the overall implemen-
tation progress of KSTP-2
from ‘moderately unsatisfac-
tory’ to ‘moderately satisfac-
tory’ in its June, 2016 report.
This is due the improvement
in the progress of civil works
component of the project.
Still, there are other opera-
tional challenges that affect
the progress of the project and
the bank has highlighted the
biggest problem of all – the
lack of a full-time project di-
rector. “It is critical that a full-
time project director is ap-
pointed to deal with day to day
decisions which have led to
improvements in the progress
of the road projects,” the re-
port said.
“A major concern is the
progress of the non-civil work
components of the project. ie,
road safety and road sector
modernization. After starting
off well, the road safety com-
ponent has stalled,” the report
further observed.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
“H
ow many of our bureaucrats have the expertise
to see these projects through?” asks D Naraya-
na, director, Gulati Institute of Finance and
Taxation. “First thing they need is this expertise and then
commitment. Even when you have a large number of tech-
nical hands, they are poorly deployed and there is nothing
great about their quality. I don’t think the World Bank has
gone into that many details,” he added.
“Also, how many of these officers go for refresher train-
ings and are up-to-date with latest technology? I doubt – not
too many. During good old days, you needed a high number
of engineers, because you couldn’t outsource the work as
the private sector wasn’t capable enough. Today it is a
different story altogether,” Narayana said.
Narayana said Kerala should focus on efficiency of the
government officials. “When you have limited resources,
you have to spend it much more effectively and we seem
to be losing that game altogether. For a private investor,
even one day lost is so many rupees or dollars of interest
or additional costs, but for a public project, there is no
accountability. The earlier you finish the project, the in-
come starts flowing the very next day. Unless that kind of
thinking comes to the corridors of power, I don’t think we
have an escape route,” he said.
CP John, former member, Kerala State Planning Board,
said that the project implementation in Kerala had im-
proved much, but not sufficiently. “When you consider the
15 to 20 years of experience, Kerala’s institutional capabil-
ity has improved a lot – especially in the case of adopting
new technology. We have been improving, but not up to
the mark where we can,” he said.
John also talked about a factor which the World Bank
hadn’t highlighted – the non-availability of raw materials.
“The major reason for the delayed projects is the issue of
not getting sufficient raw materials – people now won’t
allow you to use the natural resources for infrastructure
development. The lacuna of the project implementation
is an administrative-political consensus that could find a
solution to those projects stalled by environmental activ-
ism,” he said.
Political and Governance
Macroeconomic
Sector Strategies and Policies
Technical Design of Project
Institutional Capacity for Implementation and Sustainability
Fiduciary
Environmental and Social
Stakeholders
Overall
‘Improve efficiency
of govt officials’
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
W
hy do World Bank perceive that
the risk is substantial in two ar-
eas – ‘political and governance’
and ‘institutional capacity for implementa-
tion and sustainability’ – for its road pro-
jects in Kerala?
The bank’s interim guidance note on
SORT (Systematic Operations Risk-Rating
Tool) explains the circumstances where
they give ‘substantial’ risk rating for po-
litical and governance aspect:
“There is a substantial likelihood that
political and governance factors could sig-
nificantly impact the project development
outcome. At the program level, the project
development could be impacted by signifi-
cant political uncertainty or transition…
The government has taken initial steps to
improve transparency, accountability and
participation, but with limited impact. The
government has a set of development pri-
orities, but they lack coherence and do not
have broad-based political support. Some
anti-corruption and public sector ethics
regulations exist, but are only selectively
enforced."
While looking at the ‘Institutional Ca-
pacity for Implementation and Sustainabil-
ity’, the bank takes into account the insti-
tutional capacity of the implementing
agencies:
“There is a substantial likelihood that
weak institutional capacity for implement-
ing and sustaining the operation or opera-
tional engagement may adversely impact
the project development outcome...The
implementing agencies have limited expe-
rience with bank and other multilateral
development partner operations. The im-
plementing agencies have some in-house
capacity, but external consultants play an
important role in the design and day-to-day
operation implementation. Staff turnover
is substantial and they have limited access
to relevant training. There are significant
gaps in the agencies’ monitoring and eval-
uation arrangements, and the lines of ac-
countability are somewhat unclear.”
Scenarios where risk
is rated ‘substantial’
Road projects in Kerala hit
by transfer of officials
SUBSTANTIALMODERATELOW
Source: Implementation Status and Results Report of World Bank
KERALA KARNATAKA TELANGANA GUJARAT LIBERIA YEMEN TANZANIAANDHRA
PRADESH
TAMIL
NADU
Source: various World Bank projects
(as on June 17, 2016)
SUBSTANTIAL
MODERATE
LOW
WORLD BANK RATINGS ON ‘POLITICAL AND GOVERNANCE’
SYSTEMATIC OPERATIONS RISK-RATING OF KSTP-2 PROJECT
Illustration: Gireesh, Graphic: Karthic R
Kochi: Shedding more light
on the origin of Kochi’s Jew
population, a study conduc-
ted by experts in United Sta-
tes and Israel has found that
theJewsfromKochihaddual
ancestries, both Indian and
Jewish. Previous studies had
foundthattheyhadonlyIndi-
an ancestry. The study titled
‘Genetic History of Cochin
Jews from India’ was conduc-
tedby10expertsfromCornell
University, Tel Aviv Universi-
ty and Albert Einstein Colle-
geof MedicineinNewYork.
Dr Yedael Waldman from
Tel Aviv University’s depart-
ment of molecular microbio-
logy and biotechnology led
the study. The study analysed
the genetic history and struc-
ture of 21 Jews from Kochi
using genome-wide data. At
present, only five Jews reside
in Kochi, the rest have migra-
ted to Israel. The DNA was
collected in Israel several ye-
ars ago and it was genotyped
in USA. The data was analy-
sedfortwoyears.
A data analysis of DNA –
conducted as part of the stu-
dy – showed that Jewish gene
flow into this community to-
ok place approximately 470-
730 years ago, with contribu-
tions from Yemenite, Sephar-
di (Jews whose ancestors li-
ved in Spain and Portugal)
andMiddle-EasternJews.
Waldmansaidthatin1492,
Jews living in Spain were for-
cedtoeitherconverttoChris-
tianity or leave the country.
Many chose to leave Spain
andjoinedvariousJewishpo-
pulations. A small group of
them reached Kochi and joi-
nedthelocalcommunity.
“The IBD analysis (which
measures how many genom-
ic segments, which reflect a
recent common ancestor, are
shared between individuals)
alsoshowedthatCochinJews
share significantly more
DNA segments with Indian
population. Among the Indi-
anpopulationsGounder,Mal-
la, Kshatriya and Brahmin
communitiesshowedhighest
IBD sharing with Cochin
Jews.”
The genetic similarity
between members of Cochin
Jews is relatively high com-
pared to other populations
and it probably reflects high
endogamy(customof marry-
ing only within the limits of a
local community, clan, or tri-
be), he added. “Endogamy in
a population can increase the
prevalenceof recessivedisea-
ses. There are several disea-
ses that are more frequent in
theJewishcommunityof Ko-
chicomparedtootherpopula-
tions, mostly due to endoga-
my,”saidWaldman.
The research was done as
part of a series of studies to
learn the genetic history of
Jewish people. The project,
called ‘The Jewish HapMap’
was led by Prof Harry Ostrer
from Albert Einstein College
of Medicine in New York. Be-
sidesKochiJews,hundredsof
members from 15 other Je-
wish diasporas – including
BeneIsraelinMumbaiand48
subdivisionsof theIndianpo-
pulations – were covered by
thestudy.
Kochi Jews have dual
ancestries: US-Israel study
TC.Sreemol@timesgroup.com
LINE OF DESCENT: An outside view of the Mattancherry synagogue
at Jew town in Kochi. At present, only five Jews reside in Kochi
File photo
Kochi: On Monday, the cen-
tral police arrested a 61-year-
old man from Thrissur on
cheating charges. Paul Anto-
ny was arrested on a compla-
int filed by Brio
Kurian and Lin-
son of Thrissur
after he collected
asumof Rs1lakh
each from them, promising
jobsinPoland.
The accused then pro-
mptly went into hiding. He
closeddownthefirmAl-Amal
Enterprises Manpower Con-
sultantsonChittoorRoadand
opened another one ‘Sun Po-
int’inthecity.
Policesaidheoperatedthe
firm without permission
from the corporation. The ac-
cused had been running the
firm in Kochi for over 12 ye-
ars, they said.
Twoheldwithbanned
tobacco:The Perumbavoor
police on Monday arrested
two people and seized 50,000
packets of tobacco products
from them. The arrested have
beenidentifiedasNizar(30)of
Allapra and Kunjumuham-
med (24) of Ottapalam.
Faisal, another accused in
the case, is at large.
According to police, the
‘spider’ team of rural supe-
rintendent of Kochi seized
the products that were bro-
ught in an autorickshaw car-
rying vegetables to Changa-
nasserymarket.
Man arrested
for job fraud
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
FOR A ‘GREEN’ FUTURE RK Sreejith
A POSITIVE MOVE: Artists repaint the compound wall of Vallarpadam International Container
Transshipment Terminal, with a fresh set of pictures on Sunday. Earlier, the wall had similar drawing
that exhorted citizens to save their surroundings and planet
Kochi: The National Green
Tribunal (NGT) has issued
an arrest warrant against
Kunnathunad’s grama pan-
chayat secretary for not re-
sponding to its summons.
The warrant, however, is
bailable; the bail amount
was set at Rs 25,000
Hearing a petition filed
by K S Ravindran Nair see-
king a freeze on the dest-
ruction of a biodiversity
spot in the panchayat, the
court directed the secreta-
ry to be present at the next
hearing.
The bench of Justice P
Jyothimani, judicial mem-
ber and expert committee
member Ranjan Chatter-
jee, restrained the felling
of any tree in the area.
With the secretary not
appearing before the court,
the court expressed the vi-
ew that to prevent damage
to the biodiversity in the
area, ‘there will be an order
of status quo which exists
as on date and it shall be
maintained. The district
collector shall ensure the
compliance of this order
scrupulously and file a sta-
tus report on the next hea-
ring on November 25,” it sa-
id. The NGT, on May 23, had
directed the panchayat not
to cut any trees along the
pond and that order was ex-
tended on August 8.
The petitioner had con-
tended that the biodiversi-
ty spot was an ancient sa-
cred grove which housed
several endangered tree
species and migratory
birds.
He submitted that pan-
chayat officials – in the gui-
se of bringing a drinking
water project – were at-
tempting to damage biodi-
versity in an area spanning
55 cents and a pond.
The petition said that
there were 68 species of en-
dangered plants which are
to be protected. He sought
an interim order to stop the
felling of trees and drai-
ning out the huge water bo-
dy which was the source of
underground water to seve-
ral wells and agriculture
farms in the area.
The state pollution cont-
rol board and the state bio-
diversity board have been
made respondents in the
case.
NGT issues warrant against panchayat secy
Sudha.Nambudiri
@timesgroup.com
DESTRUCTION OF
BIODIVERSITY
TIMES CITYTHE TIMES OF INDIA, KOCHI | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016
ONLINE BOOKING FACILITY FOR UPCOMING
SABARIMALA SEASON LAUNCHED | P4
WHO WOULD SHOW RED CARD TO VIGILANCE
DIRECTOR JACOB THOMAS, ASKS CHENNITHALA | P5