Integrated Child Development Scheme

• 16 Apr 2022

For Prelims: Migrant Workers, Anganwadi Services Scheme, centrally sponsored scheme.

For Mains: Significance of Integrated Child Development Scheme, Schemes related to Migrant Workers and Children.

Why in News?

Recently, the Maharashtra government has developed a Migration Tracking System (MTS) application to map the movement of migrant workers to maintain the continuity of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) like nutrition supply, immunisation and health check-up etc.

• MTS is a website based Application that tracks the movement of Vulnerable Seasonal Migrant Workers, through individual unique identity numbers.
• Migrant beneficiaries including children aged up to 18 years, lactating mothers and pregnant women registered with the anganwadi centres will be tracked for ensuring the portability of the ICDS for their families in their destination districts within or outside the state until their return to their native places.

What is ICDS?

• About:
  • The Umbrella ICDS is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It was launched in 1975.

What are the Schemes Under the ICDS?

• Anganwadi Services Scheme:
  • It is a unique programme for early childhood care and development.
  • The beneficiaries under the Scheme are children in the age group of 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
  • It provides a package of six services namely supplementary nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, nutrition & health education, immunisation, health check-up and referral services.
  • Supplementary Nutrition includes Take Home Ration (THR), Hot Cooked Meal and morning snacks and holds importance for many vulnerable households as it impacts the nutritional outcome of the children.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana:
  • It provides cash incentive amounting to Rs.5,000/- in three instalments directly to the Bank/Post Office Account of Pregnant Women and Lactating Mother (PW&LM) in DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) Mode during pregnancy and lactation in response to individual fulfilling specific conditions.
• National Creche Scheme:
  • It provides day care facilities to children of age group of 6 months to 6 years of working women.
  • The facilities are provided for seven and half hours a day for 26 days in a month.
  • Children are provided with supplementary nutrition, early childcare education, and health and sleeping facilities.
• Scheme for Adolescent Girls:
  • It aims at out of school girls in the age group 11-14, to empower and improve their social status through nutrition, life skills and home skills.
  • The scheme has nutritional and non nutritional components which include nutrition; iron and folic acid supplementation; health check up and referral service; nutrition and health education; mainstreaming out of school girls to join formal schooling bridge course/ skill training; life skill education, home management etc,; counselling/ guidance on accessing public services.
• Child Protection Scheme:
  • It aims to contribute to the improvement and well-being of children in difficult circumstances, as well as, reduction of vulnerabilities to situations and actions that lead to abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment and separation of children from parents.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan:
  • It targets to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth weight babies by reducing mal-nutrition/undernutrition, anaemia among young children as also, focus on adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

What are the Major Objectives of ICDS?

• To improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age-group 0-6 years.
• To lay the foundation for proper psychological, physical and social development of the child.
• To reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school dropout.
• To achieve effective coordination of policy and implementation amongst the various departments to promote child development.
• To enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health and nutritional needs of the child.
• To facilitate, educate and empower Adolescent Girls (AGs) so as to enable them to become self-reliant and aware citizens.

What are the Other Similar Government Schemes?

• National Health Mission (NHM):
  • Launched in 2013, it subsumed the National Rural Health Mission and the National Urban Health Mission.
  • It is being implemented by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
  • The main programmatic components include health system strengthening in rural and urban areas for - Reproductive-Maternal- Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A), and Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases.
• Mid Day Meal Scheme:
  • It was launched in 1995 as a centrally sponsored scheme.
  • It provides that every child within the age group of six to fourteen years studying in classes I to VIII who enrols and attends the school shall be provided with a hot cooked meal, free of charge every day except on school holidays.
  • It comes under the Education Ministry’s Department of School Education and Literacy.
• National Nutrition Strategy:
  • The Strategy aims to reduce all forms of undernutrition by 2030, with a focus on the most vulnerable and critical age groups.
  • It also aims to assist in achieving the targets identified as part of the Sustainable Development Goals related to nutrition and health.
  • It has been released by the NITI Aayog.

UPSC Civil Services Exam Previous Year Question

Q. Which of the following can be said to be essentially the parts of ‘Inclusive Governance’? (2012)

1. Permitting the Non-Banking Financial Companies to do banking
2. Establishing effective District Planning Committees in all the districts
3. Increasing the government spending on public health
4. Strengthening the Mid-day Meal Scheme

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 and 4 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Ans: (c)

• Governance is a decision-making process that gets more people and stakeholders involved. Inclusive governance, through citizens’ involvement, favours the overall acceptance and makes implementation of policies easier.
• Establishing a District Planning Committee will increase people’s participation in the developmental plan of their area. This will make the planning exercise bottom up in its approach and help in bringing inclusive governance. Hence, 2 is correct.
• Increasing expenditure on public health will result in increasing human capital of the country which in turn will lead to inclusive development. Hence, 3 is correct.
• The strengthening of the Mid-day Meal Scheme will increase the enrolment ratio as well as the nutritional level of the children, which in turn will lead to overall development of the children. Hence, 4 is correct.
• Permitting NBFCs to do banking have no direct linkage with inclusive governance. Hence, 1 is not correct.

Source: IE