Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) Scheme, 1975

• The Scheme has been renamed Anganwadi Services. It is 1 of the World's largest programmes providing an integrated package of services for the holistic development of the child.
• Funding: Centrally Sponsored Scheme. All components of ICDS except the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) are financed through a 60:40 ratio. For SNP = 50:50. The North East states have a 90:10 ratio.
• Coverage: The scheme is universal covering all the districts of the country. Both Urban and Rural India.
• Objectives
  1. To improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age group 0-6 years;
  2. To lay the foundation for proper psychological, physical and social development of the child;
  3. To reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school dropout;
  4. To achieve effective co-ordination, implementation and enhance the capability of the mother.
• Components:
  1. Beneficiaries: Children of 0 - 6 years; Pregnant women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM)
  2. 6 Services under ICDS: Provided at Anganwadi centres through Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) at the grassroots level.
     1. Supplementary Nutrition, Pre-school non-formal education, Nutrition & health education
     2. Immunization, Health check-up and Referral services. They are provided through NHM. ANM.
  3. There will be 1 Anganwadi centre (AWC) for a population of 400-800; 2 AWCs for 800-1600; and thereafter in multiples of 800 -1 AWC.
  4. The AWWs and AWHs are paid a fixed salaries of Rs.4,500/- and Rs.2250/- per month respectively. Workers of Mini-Anganwadi Centres are being paid honoraria of Rs.3500/-. In addition, the monthly performance-linked incentive of Rs.250/- is also being paid to AWH.
  5. Anganwadi Workers work in ARSH, SABLA and ICDS.
• Wheat Based Nutrition Program (WBNP)
  1. It is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
  2. Foodgrains are given to ICDS for providing food to children from 2 to 6 years and pregnant/ lactating women.
• ICDS Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP): To improve nutritional and early childhood development outcomes of children in India. To strengthen ICDS policy framework.
• ANGANWADI:
  1. Anganwadi is a type of rural mother and child care centre in India.
  2. It was started in 1975 as a part of ICDS to combat child hunger and malnutrition.
  3. It provides basic healthcare including contraceptive counselling and supply, nutrition education and supplementation, as well as preschool activities.
  4. It may be used as depots for oral rehydration salts, basic medicines and contraceptives.
• Anganwadi Worker responsibilities according to MoWCD rules:
  1. Community support, conduct regular quick surveys, and pre-school activities.
  2. Provide health and nutrition education to families especially pregnant women on how to breastfeed, etc.
  3. Motivating families to adopt family planning.
  4. Educating parents about child growth and development.
  5. Assist in the implementation of Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY) to educate teenage girls and parents. Identify disabilities in children, and so on.
• Anganwadi Worker (AWW) guides ASHA in performing activities such as the importance of nutritious food, personal hygiene, care during pregnancy, the importance of immunisation etc. An anganwadi worker is a depot holder for drug kits and will be issuing it to ASHA.
• ICDS Scheme Analysis:
  1. There are 13.79 lakh Anganwadis in the country out of which 9.31 lakh centres are linked to Government's web-enabled data entry system called Rapid Reporting system. Out of them, only 1.09 lakh centres are in urban areas.
  2. For every 100 Anganwadi beneficiaries, only 7 are in urban areas. Because of lack of Anganwadis in cities, leading to poor coverage.
  3. World Urban Prospects 2018 given by UN DESA (Dept of Economic and Social Affairs) estimate the urban population in India which, at present is 34%, will be 40% by 2030 and 50% by 2050. The need for Anganwadis in urban India is high.
• Center seeks to revamp child care scheme in urban areas
  1. NITI Aayog will develop draft policy. Urban areas are likely to receive a renewed focus under the govt’s ICDS programme, which provides for anganwadis or day-care centres for delivery of nutrition and pre-school education. Health and ICDS models that work in rural areas may not work in urban areas because of higher population density, transportation challenges and migration.
  2. 2018 Govt data says, of the 14 lakh anganwadis in India there are only 1.38 lakh anganwadis in urban areas.
  3. The CNNS Survey highlighted that malnutrition among children in urban India is characterised by relatively poor levels of breastfeeding as mothers have to travel long distances for work. It also found a higher prevalence of obesity because of relative prosperity and lifestyle patterns, along with iron and Vitamin D deficiency.

Revamping of Anganwadis

Revamping of Anganwadis is a continuous process for which various steps have been taken from time to time by the Ministry of Women & Child Development for improving the condition of Anganwadi centres across the country. Following measures have been taken for upgradation of facilities at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs):

• Revised joint guidelines were issued by Ministries of Women & Child Development, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj for construction of 4 lakh AWC buildings across the country under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in convergence with Anganwadi Services (ICDS Scheme).
• Under Swachhta Action Plan, Rs. 10,000/-per AWC is provided for drinking water facilities and Rs.12,000/-per AWC for toilet facilities.
• Grants are sanctioned for purchase of water filter, furniture, equipment, etc.
• Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) have been provided with Smart Phones for efficient service delivery.
• Streamlined guidelines were issued on 13.01.2021, covering several aspects such as quality assurance, roles and responsibilities of duty holders, procedure for procurement, integrating AYUSH concepts and Data management and Monitoring through ‘Poshan Tracker’ for transparency, efficiency and accountability in the delivery of Supplementary Nutrition.
• Training is a crucial element in the Anganwadi Services Scheme as the achievement of the Programme goals largely depends upon the effectiveness of frontline workers in improving service delivery. Since the inception of the Scheme, the Ministry has formulated a comprehensive training strategy for the functionaries of Anganwadi Services. Training is imparted to the functionaries on a regular basis.
• Anganwadi Workers are provided job training for 26 working days. During this job training, the knowledge, understanding and skills of Anganwadi Workers on various Acts, Policies, and Programmes related to women and children, setting up vibrant Anganwadi Centres, conducting Early Childhood Care and Education activities, health & nutrition care of children and women, Community Mobilisation, Awareness, Advocacy & IEC, Management of AWC and hands-on experience through supervised practice to work in Anganwadi Centres are developed.
• Moreover, a robust ICT-enabled platform named Poshantracker has been designed to capture real-time data on implementation and monitoring of Anganwadi Services across the country. The Poshan Tracker management application provides a 360 - degree view of the activities of the Anganwadi Centre (AWC), service deliveries of Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and complete beneficiary management.
• Common services Centres (CSC) SPV under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been entrusted with providing technical support to States/ UTs and resolving issues regarding downloading the new Poshan Tracker app and its functioning as well as imparting input-based training to the field functionaries. A state-wise nodal person from CSC-SPV has been identified for smooth functioning of the application.