Lok Sabha Question No. 122 (STARRED), answered on 2023-07-28
Subject: Funds under ICDS
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Ramesh Chandra Majhi, Upendra Singh Rawat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO 122

TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.07.2023

## FUNDS UNDER ICDS

122.   SHRI RAMESH CHANDRA MAJHI: SHRI UPENDRA SINGH RAWAT:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the present status of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS);
- (b) the details of the measures taken for addressing the problem of malnutrition and strengthening the immune system in children;
- (c) the amount of funds allocated, disbursed and utilized during the last five years and the current year so far under ICDS in Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, districtwise; and
- (d) the measures taken by the Government to raise public awareness regarding the benefits of the scheme?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) TO (D) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 122 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.07.2023 REGARDING 'FUNDS UNDER ICDS'

(a)       Government of India has initiated Mission 'Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0' which is a strategic shift to develop practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity from malnutrition.  The Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Poshan Abhiyan have been re-aligned under POSHAN 2.0 for maximising nutritional  outcomes.   Currently,  the  Anganwadi  Services  Scheme is implemented through 13.94 Lakh Anganwadi Centres across the country.

- (b)        Government  has  accorded  high  priority  to  the  issue  of  malnutrition  and  is making sustained efforts to improve the nutritional status of children in the country. Poshan 2.0 focuses on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, Treatment  of  MAM/SAM  and  Wellness  through  AYUSH.  It  rests  on  the  pillars  of Convergence,  Governance,  and  Capacity-building.  POSHAN  Abhiyaan  is  the  key pillar  for  Outreach  and  covers  innovations  related  to  nutritional  support,  ICT interventions, Media Advocacy and Research, Community Outreach and Jan Andolan. Steps have been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing in accredited labs, strengthen delivery and leverage technology under the 'Poshan Tracker', a robust ICT enabled platform to improve governance with regard to near real-time monitoring of provisioning of supplementary nutrition for prompt supervision and management of services.

Under  Poshan2.0,  focus  is  on  diet  diversity,  food  fortification,  leveraging traditional systems of knowledge and popularizing use of millets. Nutrition awareness strategies under Poshan 2.0 aim to develop sustainable health and well-being through regional/local wholesome foods to bridge dietary gaps. Guidelines for Mission Poshan 2.0 support development of Poshan Vatikas at Anganwadi centers to meet dietary diversity gaps and seek to leverage traditional knowledge in nutritional practices.

- (c) Funds  under  Anganwadi  Services  are  released to States and  not to districts.  The amount of funds allocated, disbursed and utilized during last five years and the current year so far under Anganwadi Services scheme  for Odisha and Uttar Pradesh is placed at Annexure .
- (d)       POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched on 8th March 2018 with an aim to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children under 6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. The programme makes interventions by use of technology and behavioural change through convergence.

The  Poshan  Abhiyaan aims  to  foster behavioural change  among  individuals, especially  parents and communities thus paving the way for a mass movement to promote transformative change, also referred to as ' Jan Andolan' . An important focus has therefore been on 'Behaviour Change Communication'  to address inadequate and inappropriate  infant  and  young  child  feeding  practices,  and  nutrition  and  care during pregnancy and adolescence.

Community Based Events or CBEs have served as a significant strategy in changing nutrition practices. CBEs help to celebrate critical milestones in the life of pregnant women and children below two years of age. The gatherings serve as a platform for disseminating essential messages and to counsel pregnant and lactating women on appropriate  nutrition  and  health  behaviour.  Close  to  3.70  crore  CBEs  have  been conducted  under  the  Abhiyan.  At  a  national  level,  the Rashtriya  Poshan  Maah is celebrated in the month of September across the country while Poshan Pakhwada is celebrated in March. Over the years, themes have included overall nutrition, hygiene, water  and  sanitation,  anemia  prevention,  importance  of  breast-feeding,  growth monitoring,  role  of  Poshan  Panchayats,  AYUSH  for  Well-being,   Yoga  for  Health, importance of  Poshan Vatikas for cultivation of local vegetables, medicinal plants/herbs  at the community level, Poshan ke Paanch Sutra etc. So far, More than 50 crore Jan Andolan activities have been conducted across the country through 9 Jan Andolan campaigns.

In addition to CBEs and Jan Andolan, under the Abhiyan, funds are earmarked for  States/  UTs @Rs 5 lakh per district per year for IEC to create awareness and disseminate information regarding the benefits available under the various nutrition and health related schemes and to guide citizens on how to access them.

Further, the Ministry has also prepared short beneficiary videos on the schemes for generating wider awareness and the same have been disseminated across the country and on social media handles of the Ministry.

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Annexure Annexure to referred to in reply to Part (a) to (d) of Lok Sabha Starred Question

No. 122 to be answered on 28.07.2023 regarding 'Funds under ICDS'

|        |          | Fund released under Anganwadi Services (Rs. In lakhs)   | Fund released under Anganwadi Services (Rs. In lakhs)   | Fund released under Anganwadi Services (Rs. In lakhs)   | Fund released under Anganwadi Services (Rs. In lakhs)   |
|--------|----------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No | F.Y      | Odisha                                                  | Odisha                                                  | Uttar Pradesh                                           | Uttar Pradesh                                           |
|        |          | Funds released                                          | Funds Utilized                                          | Funds released                                          | Funds Utilized                                          |
| 1      | 2018-19  | 79544.95                                                | 78269.34                                                | 202972.91                                               | 223244.06                                               |
| 2      | 2019-20  | 85993.04                                                | 87708.97                                                | 236406.00                                               | 245280.88                                               |
| 3      | 2020-21  | 84652.26                                                | 88488.24                                                | 198558.94                                               | 172437.00                                               |
| 4      | 2021-22  | 93659.57                                                | 87074.70                                                | 239978.59                                               | 233160.68                                               |
| 5      | 2022-23  | 91559.27                                                | UC/SoE not due                                          | 272052.80                                               | UC/SoE not due                                          |
| 6      | 2023-24* | 22202.52                                                | UC/SoE not due                                          | 70123.11                                                | UC/SoE not due                                          |

UC/SoE-Utilisation Certificate/Statement of Expenditure .

*-As on 30.06.2023