17 Sep 2019
It is important to have an estimate for the cost of services by any provider, irrespective of whether the provider is a public or a private entity. An accurate estimate of costs for providing any particular service can help in more efficient planning, judicious use of resources and better decision – making regarding subsidies and cost-recovery mechanisms to make the provisions sustainable in the long run. We study the economic cost of 17 ECCE interventions in this study to arrive at an understanding of the total cost incurred, including the opportunity costs of resources which are not compensated monetarily. Using these estimates and our understanding of what constitutes a responsive model from an ethnographic study conducted in Tamil Nadu and Bihar, we identify costing principles that should form the basis for provision of public resources for ECCE models. We argue that development of responsive models on a large scale calls for adoption of an enabling institutional framework and facilitative costing principles.
CBPS. (September, 2019). Costing framework and principles for responsive ECCE models [CBPS-UCAM Policy Brief 03]. Bengaluru: Centre for Budget and Policy Studies.