There are specific norms and guidelines for the delivery of public services, of which certain are made available specifically for the socially excluded groups; others under different flagship schemes are universal in nature. This paper looks at the issue of caste and access to these services in the context of the Integrated Child Development Services. It draws evidence from a sample of nearly 5,000 households and more than 200 institutional service delivery points in the mixed-caste villages spread across three states. The findings suggest that the implementation gap coupled with exclusionary biases not only affect the access of lower caste groups to public services but also often intensify their disadvantages.
