Centrally-sponsored Schemes and Cooperative Federalism in India: A Case Study of Integrated Child Development Scheme

Abstract

This article attempts to explore the dynamics of cooperative federalism in India through a case study of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme initiated by the Government of India in 1975 for the health and nutrition of pregnant and lactating women and children of below six years of age. The study of ICDS provides an interesting case to study vertical and horizontal federalism and its interlinkages and the spirit and working of cooperative federalism in India. The article analyses the performance of ICDS in different states by emphasizing factors, such as party congruence, the commitment of the Chief Minister, awareness of the community, functioning of the NGOs and so on. The study has involved fieldwork in some districts of Gujarat and Punjab and relied on government reports and some secondary literature to understand the functioning of ICDS in other states, such as Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Jammu and Kashmir. Our fieldwork brought to light the fact that there were variations not only in the success rate but also in the number of actors involved in the implementation of the scheme in different states and the adoption of some innovations by particular states. There were pilot initiatives introduced in some districts, such as the toy bank initiative, School Enrolment Drive, Mobile Anganwadi vans, Insurance scheme for Anganwadi workers and felicitation of Anganwadi workers (Mata Yashoda Awards). The study of multi-level federal structure in India is crucial for a holistic understanding of the implementation of the centrally-sponsored schemes in India including ICDS.