This week’s session was facilitated by Dr. Kaustuv Kanti Bandyopadhyay. It focused on learning about the community scorecard (CSC) – a participatory tool for monitoring and assessment of services. CSC brings together the demand side (“service user”) and the supply side (“service provider”) of a particular service or program to jointly analyze issues underlying service delivery problems and then find a common and shared way of addressing those issues. Thus, the main goal of CSC is to positively influence the quality, efficiency, and accountability with which services are provided at different levels, shared the facilitator. After developing this understanding, different steps of conducting CSC with the community were discussed in detail with the fellows.

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The fellows were then divided into groups and involved in a simulation activity in which one group acted as a service provider and the other as a service user. The groups were given case studies to analyze and score.


The service users stated that Public Health Centers (PHCs) should have an infrastructure and services which accommodate the needs of the community, whereas the service providers (PHCs) stated the lack of support they get from the government and community leading to poor delivery of services. The community should understand their responsibility of not littering the PHC or shouting at doctors when they are occupied with other patients, shared a fellow. During the simulation activity, both groups evaluated each other critically. Towards the end, both the community and PHC came up with two areas of positive action, which can be implemented by the both of them.

  1. Awareness of the community – People attending PHCs should take out the time to read and equip themselves with knowledge available in the forms of posters and charts, displayed on PHC walls and notice boards.
  2. Meetings can be organized to encourage regular and continuous dialogue between service users and providers.
  3. A representative can be assigned from the community, such as ASHA workers who can act as bridge between the community and service providers. 

After this, the session was concluded by brainstorming different ways in which service users and service providers can engage in a constructive dialogue to improve the service provisions and how these tools can also be used in their research. It was important, as this engagement can also lead to developing dignified relationships, making both the institutions accountable.

To view the session recording: https://youtu.be/EISaHsX-fu4