Information Provision and Participatory Budgeting: Mohalla Sabhas in Delhi

This project has been canceled. The Delhi Government plans to introduce a devolutionary scheme to create extremely localized decision making bodies called Mohalla Sabhas (MS). MS will have considerable allocative as well as oversight powers over local spending. In principle, citizens can propose local public good projects, vote to allocate funds for implementation and authorize funding to contractors upon the successful completion of chosen projects. We seek pilot funding to lay the groundwork for an experimental intervention aimed at answering three related questions. First, how can the state increase citizen participation in MS, particularly of those belonging to disadvantaged groups? Second, how do informational interventions around the budgeting process affect the projects chosen? Finally, can participatory budgeting improve the quality of life for residents by allowing them to choose policies better aligned with their preferences?