CITU condemns cut in ICDS funding
Mysuru,
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Mysuru,
Updated:
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CITU activists and anganwadi workers staging a demonstration in Mysuru on Thursday. | Photo Credit:
M.A. SRIRAM
Activists of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) staged a demonstration in the city on Thursday against the curtailing of allocation to the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in the Union Budget.
They said that the allocation has been curtailed by 30 per cent resulting in slashing of the funds by ₹1400 crore. This comes at a time when malnutrition was on the high among children resulting in stunted growth, according to CITU.
Children at an anganwadi in Kollegal, Karnataka. Photo credit: Nayantara Narayanan | Nayantara Narayanan
The Union Budget for 2021-’22 includes significant cuts to the funds allocated towards social welfare programmes such as child and maternal nutrition schemes.
Researchers and activists have expressed concern that several separate schemes for women and children have been clubbed together and jointly allocated funds that are lower than previous years.
These budget cuts come in the wake of a Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown that disrupted the supply of food grains to millions of vulnerable populations across India in 2020.
Integrated Child Development Scheme
The budget for the Integrated Child Development Scheme – an infant and child nutrition scheme that involves running village-level anganwadis or creches – was Rs 20,532 crore in the 2020-’21 budget. This year, however, the ICDS has been clubbed under the Centre’s Saksham scheme, along with the Po
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Jan 29: Despite working tirelessly in implementation of various Government schemes and even acting as frontline workers during COVID pandemic, thousands of Anganwadi workers are without wages for last eight months in the UT of J&K. What has added to the woes of these hapless workers is their liability of some months of 2019 which have not been cleared by the Government till date.
As per sources, some of the workers even have not been paid the wages of 2019 while the supervisors and helpers are without wages for over last two and half years. Besides, the wages of displaced Anganwadi workers are pending for last two years putting them to acute hardships in their day-to-day life.
Wanted: A Poshan Plus Strategy To Deal With Malnutrition Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is the core platform for intervention delivery under the Poshan Abhiyan. Representational Image
Wanted: A Poshan Plus Strategy To Deal With Malnutrition
Niti Aayog flags gaps and challenges in the implementation of Poshan Abhiyan in various states
The Niti Aayog’s monitoring and evaluation unit has highlighted several gaps and challenges in the implementation of the Poshan Abhiyan in various States, stressing on the need to “quickly graduate” to “a Poshan-plus strategy” to address the problem of malnutrition more effectively.
The Poshan-Plus strategy should not only focus on strengthening the core pillars of the national nutrition programme but also have “renewed focus” on other social determinants such as sanitation, education, poverty alleviation and food security, it has recommended.
It’s time India thinks harder about our policies for children – our future depends on it
We must secure for children a life of dignity with equity and sustainability as a larger public good. Jan 16, 2021 · 09:30 am A migrant worker and his daughter wait to get food at a camp in Chennai in April. | Arun Sankar / AFP
This is an excerpt from the sixth edition of the India Exclusion Report, a collaborative effort involving institutions and individuals working with a shared notion of social and economic equity, justice and rights. The report seeks to inform public opinion around exclusion and the role of the state and to influence policy-making towards creating a more inclusive, equitable and just society. The annual publication is anchored by the Centre for Equity Studies and edited by its director, Harsh Mander.