Can vigilance‐focused governance reforms improve service delivery? The case of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in Bihar, India

Child undernourishment is a major challenge in India even though the government has, since 1975, been running the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), one of the largest programmes of this type in the world. Ever since its inception, this scheme has been marred by various governance challenges: widespread corruption, absenteeism and targeting problems, more visible in states like Bihar than in others. The ruling dispensation in Bihar has instituted major reforms to tackle these problems. These include regular inspection of service delivery centres, strict monitoring of funds, swift disciplinary action and vigilance through community participation. While these reforms are generally accepted as good in theory, research‐based empirical evidence of their impact on the ground is scarce. This article tries to fill this gap through an in‐depth case study of ICDS in Bihar. The findings indicate that, contrary to conventional thinking about good governance, the vigilance‐focused reforms along with community‐based monitoring have not been successful in curbing systemic corruption. The study concludes that alternative approaches are required to resolve the governance problems in ICDS. These include tackling the problems of understaffing and heavy workloads, and providing stronger incentives to the frontline service providers.