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Journal of Policy Studies
Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University

J. Policy Stud. 2023; 38(1):29-43

pISSN: 2799-9130, eISSN: 2800-0714

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52372/jps38103

Article

Service Users’ Confidence in Accessing Public Services in Nepal: What Makes Differences?

Anil Kumar Gupta1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5242-7685, Anup Bhurtel2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6279-1632, Prakash C. Bhattarai3,*https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4804-7492
1Deputy Director of Studies, Nepal Administrative Staff College, Lalitpur, Nepal, cdps10gupta@gmail.com
2Training and Research Officer, Nepal Administrative Staff College, Lalitpur, Nepal, anupbhurtel@gmail.com
3Associate Professor of Development Studies/ Associate Dean of Research and External Affairs, Kathmandu University-School of Education, Lalitpur, Nepal, prakash@kusoed.edu.np
*Corresponding author: Associate Professor of Development Studies/ Associate Dean of Research and External Affairs, Kathmandu University-School of Education, Lalitpur, Nepal, prakash@kusoed.edu.np

ⓒ Copyright 2023 Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Jun 16, 2022; Accepted: Feb 10, 2023

Published Online: Mar 31, 2023

Abstract

This paper presents the factors associated with service users’ confidence in receiving public services in Nepal. The factors were taken from National Governance Survey 2017/18 (N=7334). The survey respondents were randomly selected from 43 of 77 districts of Nepal by using four-stage multiple cluster sampling from the service users who received public services in a year duration. The result showed that service users’ confidence in receiving public services differs by their locale, education level, caste/ethnicity, not having close contact (Afno Manchhe), and presence of intermediaries. Education, not having a person in close contact (Afno manchhe) and the presence of intermediaries have a negative effect, whereas locale (rural) and caste/ethnicity (Brahman/Chettri) have positive effects on service users’ confidence in accessing public services. Consideration of these factors boosts the confidence of the service users, which, in turn, promotes effective service delivery.

Keywords: Confidence; service users; public service delivery; Nepal