Good Governance Through Citizen Participation and Its Role in Improvement in Service Delivery.

The Sustainable Development Goal 3 aspires to ensure health and well-being for all and aims to achieve universal health coverage. The Indian government has developed policies, including schemes such as the Integrated Development Child Scheme (ICDS), to improve the health care outcomes for both mother and child. However, several studies have found that the ICDS program was not particularly effective, primarily because of implementation problems. To address these issues, several initiatives have been launched with the goal of strengthening community-based mechanisms to enhance the effectiveness of the ICDS program. In this context, this paper examines the role of citizen participation by enhancing service delivery under the ICDS. The study presents a case study of Nuh district, an aspirational district in India, where a civil society organization has played a crucial role in increasing citizens' awareness of their rights, entitlements, and redressal mechanisms, empowering them to demand better service delivery. The study utilizes a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, including structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, and non-participatory observations. The research involved interviews with eligible household representatives and Anganwadi workers (AWWs) from ICDS centres, conducted through structured questionnaires, as well as non-participatory observations at all ICDS centres over three consecutive working days. The findings of the study underscore that improving access to information about rights and entitlements leads to increased communitybased monitoring of public institutions and encourages citizens to voice their concerns through the use of redressal mechanisms. Nevertheless, a lack of trust persists in formal grievance resolution mechanisms, which prompts the community to rely primarily on informal channels to address issues. This includes raising and resolving concerns through interactions with gram sabhas, government officials, and AWWs. Nonetheless, as community involvement in local governance grows, government authorities become more responsive to certain citizen demands, ultimately resulting in enhanced service delivery. This study highlights the essential role of citizen participation in promoting accountability and better service delivery within public health programs like ICDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]