ABSTRACT
Developing countries in Asia face the challenge of improving the effectiveness of basic public services for their citizens. Such services include education, health, water and sanitation, transport, affordable housing, social protection, security, and justice. The groups facing severe deprivations include indigenous communities, tribal groups, and caste-affected minorities; rural, interior, and remote communities; and the growing numbers of urban poor. The existence of relatively prosperous groups side by side with groups facing extreme deprivations such as inequity, strife, political and economic instability has severe adverse implications for affected Asian countries and Asian integration. The subject of this chapter is what can be done to improve public service delivery to deprived groups in developing countries of Asia.
