Civic participation to make local governments child friendly : A case study from Kerala

Local governments in Kerala are entrusted with a greater part of the responsibility of development of children of 0-18 age group. They are shouldered with the responsibility to carryout programmes related to maternal and child health, ICDS, education and disability. These powers empower LSGs to develop a Comprehensive Child Health initiative in State. The mainstreaming of child development programmes, need to be meaningfully integrated in all development sectors like Agriculture, Education, Health, Social Security, Child Development, Women Component Plan, Public Works, Sanitation, Drinking Water and SC development and ST development. Local governments have appropriate environment for devising child development programmes and now giving more thrust to matters like upgrading the quality of services provided through Anganwadi network emphasizing health, nutrition, pre-primary education and infrastructural up gradation. Local Self Governments in Kerala have the constitutional mandate to implement programmes for local economic development and social justice. Thus they can effectively interfere in various fields of human development areas and can achieve desired results. This enables Local Governments in Kerala to come up with local- specific solutions. As a result, the issues relating to child development could be addressed effectively in the present Kerala context. Redefining the existing practice to evolve a comprehensive child development plan serious efforts has been undertaken by the local bodies to develop status report, identify problems, identify gaps and make appropriate intervention plans. The criteria followed by the local governments to declare as child friendly local body will be analyzed in detail.