Articles from General Knowledge Today

Some Government of India Development Programs &

Schemes
2009-05-03 02:05:00 GKToday
1. Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY)
2. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)
3. Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
4. Rural Housing Schemes
5. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)
6. Drought Prone Areas Program (DPAP)
7. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)
8. Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)
9. Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY)
10.Food For Work Programme FFWP
11. National Social Assistance Programme
12. Annapaurna
13. District Rural Development Agency Administration (DRDA)
14. The Council for Advancement of Peoples Action and Rural Technology
(CAPART)
15. Bharat Nirman
16. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
17. Accredited Social Health Activist ASHA
18. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
19. Mid-Day Meal Scheme
20. Integrated Child Development Services Scheme ICDS
1. Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY)
PMGY was launched in 2000-2001 in all States and Union Territories (UTs) in order
to achieve the objective of sustainable human development at the village level.
The PMGY envisages allocation of Additional Central Assistance (ACA) to the States
and UTs for selected basic minimum services in order to focus on certain priority
areas. PMGY initially had five components viz., primary health, primary education,
rural shelter, rural drinking water and nutrition. Rural electrification was added as an
additional component from 2001-02. For 2002-03 as well as 2003-04, the allocation
of ACA for PMGY was Rs.2,800 crore. Both financial and physical monitoring of the
programme is being carried out by the Planning Commission.
2. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)
After a review and restructuring of the erstwhile Integrated Rural Development
Program and allied schemes, SGSY was launched in April, 1999 and is the only self
employment Programme currently being implemented. The objective of the SGSY is
to bring the assisted Swarozgaris above the poverty line by providing them
incomegenerating assets through bank credit and Government subsidy. The
Scheme is being implemented on a 75:25 cost sharing of between the Centre and
the States. Since its inception, and up to April 2004, a total allocation of Rs. 6,734
crore was made available by the Centre and States. Rs. 4,980 crore, have been
utilized up to April 2004, benefiting 45.67 lakh Swarozgaris.
3. Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
The SGRY was launched in September 2001, by merging the ongoing Schemes of
Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) and Employment Assurance Scheme
(EAS). The objective of the programme is to provide additional wage employment in
the rural areas as also food security, along with the creation of durable community,
social and economic infrastructure in rural areas. The SGRY is open to all rural poor
who are in need of wage employment and desire to do manual and unskilled work in
and around the village/habitat. The Scheme is implemented through Panchyati Raj
Institutions. The scheme envisages generation of 100 crore man-days of
employment in a year. The cost of each component of the programme is shared by
the Centre and States in the ratio of 75:25. During the year 2003-04 an amount of
Rs. 4,121 crore as cash component and 49.97 lakh tones of food grain were
released to the States/UTs and 76.45 crore man-days (Provisional) have been
generated as reported by the States/UTs. Under the Special Component of the
SGRY, 65.84 lakh tonnes of foodgrain have been released to 12 calamity affected
States during 2003-04.
4. Rural Housing Schemes
Rural housing schemes such as Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) aim at providing
dwelling units, free of cost, to the poor families of the Scheduled Castes (SCs),
Scheduled Tribes (STs), freed bonded laborers and also the non- SC/ST persons
Below Poverty Line (BPL) in the rural areas. The Scheme is funded on a cost-
sharing basis of 75:25 between the Center and States. Till the end of 2003-04, the
ceiling on construction assistance under IAY was Rs. 20,000/- in plain areas and
Rs. 22,000/- in hilly areas, which has been increased to Rs. 25,000/- per unit for
plain areas and Rs. 27,500/- for hilly areas from April 1, 2004. Twenty per cent of the
allocation is allowed for upgradation of unserviceable Kutcha houses for which
ceiling of Rs. 12,500 per unit applies since April 2004. Credit-cum-Subsidy Scheme
for rural housing targeting rural families having annual income up to Rs.32, 000 was
launched on April 4, 1999. An amount of Rs. 10 crore as equity support was
provided to Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) during 2003-04
by Ministry of Rural Development. In addition, the innovative scheme of Rural
Housing and Habitat Development and Rural Building Centres (RBCs) was
introduced to encourage innovative, cost effective and environment friendly solutions
in building/housing sectors in rural areas. A National Mission for Rural Housing and
Habitat has also been set up to address the critical issues of housing gap and
induction of science and technology inputs into the housing/construction sector in
rural areas. Since inception (up to June 1, 2004) 113.96 lakh houses have been
constructed/upgraded by incurring an expenditure of Rs. 19,869 crore. During 2003-
04, against the target of 14.84 lakh, 12.54 lakh (provisional) houses have been
constructed/upgraded.
5. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)
The PMGSY, was launched in December, 2000, to provide road connectivity to 1.6
lakh unconnected habitations with population of 500 persons or more (250 in case of
hilly, desert and tribal areas) in the rural areas by the end of the Tenth Plan period. It
is being executed in all the States and six UTs. Although the initial estimates
indicated a requirement of Rs. 60,000 crore for the program, the present indications
are that about Rs.1,30,000 crore will be needed for achieving the intended
connectivity. As per the Budget announcements of 2003-04, the diesel cess which
is the source for funding the programme, was increased from Re. 1 per litre to Rs.
1.50 per litre, in order to provide additional funds for the programme. Since the
inception of the program, project proposals for Rs. 14,417 crore have been cleared
and 88,685 Kms. of rural roads have been taken up under this program. 20,740 road
works had been completed till March 2004, and an expenditure of over Rs. 6,547
crore has been incurred by the States/UTs. The National Rural Roads Development
Agency (NRRDA), registered under the Societies Registration Act, provides
Operations and Management support for the program. The Asian Development
Bank (ADB) has agreed to support the development of rural roads in Madhya
Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which have been identified as recipient States for the
first tranche. The ADB Board has approved a loan of $400 million (in a project size
of $571 million). The States of Assam, Orissa and West Bengal have been identified
for the second tranche of ADB assistance, of the order of US $500million. A first
tranche of $400 million for funding projects in Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand,
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh is likely to be available from the World Bank by the end
of 2004-05
6. Drought Prone Areas Program (DPAP)
Desert Development Program (DDP) and Integrated Wastelands Development
Program (IWDP) are being implemented for the development of wastelands /
degraded lands. DPAP was launched in 1973-74 to tackle the special problems
faced by those areas constantly affected by drought conditions. DDP was launched
in 1977-78 to mitigate the adverse effects of desertification. IWDP has been under
implementation since 1989-90. These programs were implemented on a sectoral
basis till 1994-95. Since April 1995, these programs are being implemented on
watershed basis. For the project DPAP, total number of the projects sanctioned
were 2,535, with funds released by the Centre at Rs 295 crore. Under DDP, 1,562
projects have been sanctioned with funds of amount Rs.215 crore; and under
IWDP, 190 projects with funding of Rs. 306 crore, were sanctioned. The cost norms
for all the three schemes have been revised to Rs.6,000 per hectare. Under DPAP
and DDP, the cost is shared between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 75:25,
while in the case of IWDP, Rs.5,500 is borne by the Central Government and
Rs.500 is shared by the States.
7. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)
AAY was launched in December 2000. Under the scheme 1 crore of the poorest
among the BPL families covered under the targeted public distribution system are
identified. Twenty five kilograms (kg) of food grains were made available to each
eligible family at a highly subsidized rate of Rs. 2 per kg for wheat and Rs.3 per kg
for rice. This quantity has been enhanced from 25 to 35 kgs with effect from April,
2002. The scheme has been further expanded in June 2003 by adding another 50
lakh BPL families. Under the scheme, during 2002-03, against an allocation of 41.27
lakh tonnes of foodgrain, 35.39 lakh tonnes have been lifted by State Governments,
and during 2003-04, 38.24 lakh tonnes of food-grain have been lifted against an
allocation of 45.56 lakh tonnes.
8. Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)
The Urban Self-Employment Program and the Urban Wage Employment Program
are two special schemes of the SJSRY initiated in December 1997, which replaced
various programs operated earlier for urban poverty alleviation. Between the Centre
and the States, SJSRY is funded on a 75:25 basis. During 2002-03, the full
allocation of Rs.105 crore provided for various components of this program was
released. For 2003-04, an allocation of Rs.94.50 crore plus Rs. 10.5 crore for North
East and Sikkim was provided for various components of this program. The
expenditure during 2003-04 was Rs. 105 crore.
9. Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY)
The VAMBAY was launched in December 2001 to ameliorate the conditions of the
urban slum dwellers living below the poverty line without adequate shelter. The
scheme has the primary objective of facilitating the construction and up-gradation of
dwelling units for slum dwellers and providing a healthy and enabling urban
environment through community toilets under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, a component
of the scheme. The Central Government provides a subsidy of 50 per cent, the
balance 50 per cent being arranged by the State Government. There are prescribed
ceilings on costs both for dwelling units and community toilets. During 2003-04,
Central subsidy to the extent of Rs. 239 crore has been released. Since inception up
to May 2004, Rs. 522 crore have been released as Government of India subsidy for
the construction/upgradation of 2,46,035 dwelling units and 29,263 toilet seats under
the scheme.
10.Food For Work Programme: FFWP
The Food for Work Programme was started in January, 2000-01 as part of the
Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) in eight drought affected States viz.
Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa,
Rajasthan, Uttaranchal. The Food for Work Programmes (FFWP) was later
expanded to form a part of any wage employment scheme of the Central or State
Governments being implemented in the notified districts during periods
of natural calamities, such as drought, flood, cyclone or earthquake. Now the
programme is in operation in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh,
Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra,
Orissa and Rajasthan. For the States/Areas which are formally notified natural
calamities affected, the programme will continue up to 31st of March 2002.
In this programme the cash component of the wage and material is met from the
Scheme under which it is being implemented. The cost of transportation of
foodgrains from FCI godowns to the worksites/PDS and its distribution is the
responsibility of the State Government.Government of India makes available
appropriate quantity of foodgrains to each of the affected States. Foodgrains are
supplied to the States as an additionality and free of cost. The cost is borne by the
Government of India with a view of enabling the State Governments to provide
adequate wage employment opportunities to the needy rural poor.
11. National Social Assistance Programme:
The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) which came into effect from
15th August, 1995, is a 100 % Centrally Sponsored Programme. It has three
components namely, National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), National Family
Benefit Scheme (NFBS) and National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS). The NMBS
has since been transferred to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare w.e.f. 1-4-
2001. The NSAP aims at providing social security in case of old age, death of
primary breadwinner andmaternity. The main objectives and features of the two
schemes, NOAPS and NFBS are given below:The Programme aims at ensuring a
minimum national standard of social assistance in addition to the benefit that States
are already providing. The Central assistance is not to
displace expenditure by States on social protection schemes. However, the
States/UTs are free to expand their own coverage of social assistance whenever
they wish to do so.
12. Annapaurna:
The Annapurna Scheme has been launched with effect from 1st April, 2000. It aims
at providing food security to meet the requirement of those senior citizens who,
though eligible, have remained uncovered under the National Old Age Pension
Scheme(NOAPS). The Scheme is targeted to cover, 20% (13.762 Lakh) of persons
eligible to receive pension under NOAPS.The Central assistance under the
Annapurna Scheme is, thus, provided to the beneficiaries on fulfilling the following
criteria :
1. The age of the applicant ( male or female) should be 65 years or above.
2. The applicant must be a destitute in the sense of having little or no regular means
of substance from his/her own source of income or through financial support from
family members or other sources. In order to determine destitution , the criteria, if
any, in force in the States/UTs may also be followed.
3. The applicant should not be in receipt of pension under the NOAPSor State
Pension Scheme.
4. The beneficiaries are given 10 Kg. of foodgrains per month free of cost.
Funds are currently released to the State Departments of Food & Civil Supplies
(F&CS;) in one instalment . This Department then ties up with the Food Corporation
of India (FCI), to release foodgrains districtwise on payment of the cost of
Foodgrains at CIP rates directly to the FCI offices. Initially the foodgrains were
supplied at economic cost ( Rs.9.80 per Kg.). However, w.e.f. 1.11.2000, foodgrains
are supplied at the CIP rates for BPL families( Rs.4.90 per Kg.) The beneficiaries
under the scheme are selected in the Gram Sabhas and the Gram Panchayat
distribute the entitlement cards to the beneficiaries.
13. District Rural Development Agency Administration (DRDA)
Over the years the District Rural Development Agencies have emerged as the
principal organs at the district level to oversing the implementation of different
poverty alleviation programmes. Since inception, the administrative costs of the
DRDAs were met by setting apart a certain percentage of the allocation for each
Programme. Of late, while the number of programmes increased, not all
Programmes provided for the administrative cost of the DRDAs.
Keeping in view the need for an effective agency at the district level to co-ordinate
the poverty alleviation efforts, a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme for strengthening
the DRDAs was introduced w.e.f. 1st April, 1999.
The primary objective of the DRDA Administration Scheme is to professionalise the
DRDAs so that they are able to effectively manage the poverty alleviation
programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development and interact purposively with
other agencies. The DRDAs are expected to (effectively) coordinate with the
Panchayati Raj Institutions. DRDAs are to maintain their separate identity under the
guidelines even though the Chairman of the Zilla Parishad is also the
Chairman of the governing body of DRDA.
14. The Council for Advancement of Peoples Action and Rural Technology
(CAPART)
The Council for Advancement of Peoples Action and Rural Technology (CAPART)
was set up as a pioneer organisation in September, 1986, as a supporting and
funding agency for the Voluntary Organisations (VOs) by merging two organisations,
namely, Peoples Action for Development (India) and Council for Advancement of
Rural Technology (CART) with the mandate to promote voluntary action and
propagate appropriate rural technologies for the benefit of the rural masses. Since
then, CAPART has been contributing towards the rural development and poverty
alleviation through the work of VOs at the grassroots level and by supplementing
Governments efforts.
The Minister for Rural Development, Government of India, is the President
of the Council and also the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the
Council.
The General Body comprises, not exceeding, 100 members representing voluntary
agencies, Central and States Government, institutions engaged in activities
connected with rural development, rural technology and individuals possessing
experience/expertise relevant to the furtherance of the aforesaid objectives of
CAPART. They are nominated by the President of the Council.The Executive
Committee of CAPART comprises a maximum of 25 members nominated by the
President of CAPART from amongst the members of the General Body. There is
also a Standing Committee on Finance and Appointments which is chaired by the
Director.
15. Bharat Nirman:
Bharat Nirman is a a time-bound plan for rural infrastructure by the Government of
India in partnership with State Governments and Panchayat Raj Institutions.
Tasks Under Bharat Nirman:
1. Every village to be provided electricity: remaining 1,25,000 villages to be covered
by 2009 as well as connect 2.3 crore households
2. Every habitation over 1000 population and above (500 in hilly and tribal areas) to
be provided an all-weather road: remaining 66,802 habitations to be covered by 2009
3. Every habitation to have a safe source of drinking water: 55,067 uncovered
habitations to be covered by 2009. In addition all habitations which have slipped back
from full coverage to partial coverage due to failure of source and habitations which
have water quality problems to
be addressed
4. Every village to be connected by telephone: remaining 66,822 villages to be
covered by November 2007
5. 10 million hectares (100 lakhs) of additional irrigation capacity to be created by
2009 60 lakh houses to be constructed for the rural poor by 2009
16. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme:
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA, also known as National
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, NREGS) is Indian legislation enacted on
August 25, 2005. The NREGA provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of
employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing
to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage.
This act was introduced with an aim of improving the purchasing power of the rural
people, primarily semi or un-skilled work to people living below poverty line in rural
India. It attempts to bridge the gap between the rich and poor in the country. Roughly
one-third of the stipulated work force must be women.The act was brought about by
the UPA coalition government headed by Dr. Manmohan Singh. The promise of this
project was one of the major factors that gained UPA victory in the Indian general
election, 2004. Dr. Jean Drze, a Belgian born economist, at the Delhi School of
Economics, has been a major influence on this project.
Central Government shall meet the cost towards the payment of wage, 3/4 of
material cost and certain percentage of administrative cost. State Government shall
meet the cost towards unemployed allowance, 1/4 of material cost and
administrative cost of State council.
Adult members of rural households submit their name, age and address with photo
to the Gram Panchayat. The Gram panchayat registers households after making
enquiry and issues a job card. The job card contains the details of adult member
enrolled and his /her photo. Registered person can submit an application for work in
writing (for at least fourteen days of continuous work) either to panchayat or to
Programme Officer.
The panchayat/programme officer will accept the valid application and issue dated
receipt of application, letter providing work will be sent to the applicant and also
displayed at panchayat office. The employment will be provided within a radius of 5
km: if it is above 5 km extra wage will be paid.
If employment under the scheme is not provided within fifteen days of receipt of the
application daily unemployment allowance will be paid to the applicant.
17. Accredited Social Health Activist ASHA:
ASHA is a new band of community under National Rural Health Mission, which
serves as first port of call for any health related demands of deprived sections of the
population, especially women and children, who find it difficult to access health
services. The main objective is to provide every village in the country with a trained
female community health activist ASHA or Accredited Social Health Activist.
Selected from the village itself and accountable to it, the ASHA will be trained to work
as an interface between the community and the public health system.
Key Components:
1. ASHA must primarily be a woman resident of the village married/ widowed/
divorced, preferably in the age group of 25 to 45 years.
2. She should be a literate woman with formal education up to class eight. This may
be relaxed only if no suitable person with this qualification is available.
3. ASHA will be chosen through a rigorous process of selection involving various
community groups, self-help groups, Anganwadi Institutions, the Block Nodal officer,
District Nodal officer, the village Health Committee and the Gram Sabha.
4. Capacity building of ASHA is being seen as a continuous process. ASHA will have
t undergo series of training episodes to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and
confidence for performing her spelled out roles.
5. The ASHAs will receive performance-based incentives for promoting universal
immunization, referral and escort services for Reproductive & Child Health (RCH)
and other healthcare programmes, and construction of household toilets.
6. Empowered with knowledge and a drug-kit to deliver first-contact healthcare,
every ASHA is expected to be a fountainhead of community participation in public
health programmes in her village.
7. ASHA will be the first port of call for any health related demands of deprived
sections of the population, especially women and children, who find it difficult to
access health services.
8. ASHA will be a health activist in the community who will create awareness on
health and its social determinants and mobilise the community towards local health
planning and increased utilisation and accountability of the existing health services.
9. She would be a promoter of good health practices and will also provide a
minimum package of curative care as appropriate and feasible for that level and
make timely referrals.
10. ASHA will provide information to the community on determinants of health such
as nutrition, basic sanitation & hygienic practices, healthy living and working
conditions, information on existing health services and the need for timely utilisation
of health & family welfare services.
11. She will counsel women on birth preparedness, importance of safe delivery,
breast-feeding and complementary feeding, immunization, contraception and
prevention of common infections including Reproductive Tract Infection/Sexually
Transmitted Infections (RTIs/STIs) and care of the young child.
12. ASHA will mobilise the community and facilitate them in accessing health and
health related services available at the Anganwadi/sub-centre/primary health
centers, such as immunisation, Ante Natal Check-up (ANC), Post Natal Check-up
supplementary nutrition, sanitation and other services being provided by the
government.
13. She will act as a depot older for essential provisions being made available to all
habitations like Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORS), Iron Folic Acid Tablet(IFA),
chloroquine, Disposable Delivery Kits (DDK), Oral Pills & Condoms, etc.
14. At the village level it is recognised that ASHA cannot function without adequate
institutional support. Womens committees (like self-help groups or womens health
committees), village Health & Sanitation Committee of the Gram Panchayat,
peripheral health workers especially ANMs and Anganwadi workers, and the trainers
of ASHA and in-service periodic training would be a major source of support to
ASHA.
website of ASHA :
http://www.mohfw.nic.in/eag/accredited_social_health_activis.htm
18. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan:
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is Government of India's flagship programme for
achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound
manner, as mandated by 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free
and compulsory Education to the Children of 6-14 years age group, a Fundamental
Right. SSA is being implemented in partnership with State Governments to cover
the entire country and address the needs of 192 million children in 1.1 million
habitations. The programme seeks to open new schools in those habitations which
do not have schooling facilities and strengthen existing school infrastructure through
provision of additional class rooms, toilets, drinking water, maintenance grant and
school improvement grants.
Existing schools with inadequate teacher strength are provided with additional
teachers, while the capacity of existing teachers is being strengthened by extensive
training, grants for developing teaching-learning materials and strengthening of the
academic support structure at a cluster, block and district level. SSA seeks to
provide quality elementary education including life skills. SSA has a special focus on
girl's education and children with special needs. SSA also seeks to provide
computer education to bridge the digital divide.
Website: http://www.ssa.nic.in/
19. Mid-Day Meal Scheme:
The Mid-day Meal Scheme involves provision of lunch free of cost to school-children
on all working days. The key objectives of the programme are: protecting children
from classroom hunger, increasing school enrolment and attendance, improved
socialisation among children belonging to all castes, addressing malnutrition, and
social empowerment through provision of employment to women. The scheme has
a long history especially in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, and has been expanded to all
parts of India after a landmark direction by the Supreme Court of India on November
28, 2001. The success of this scheme is illustrated by the tremendous increase in
the school participation and completion rates in the state of Tamilnadu. Allocation for
this programme has been enhanced from Rs 3010 crore to Rs 4813 crore (Rs 48
billion, $1.2 billion) in 2006-2007. This program is being run by Akshaya Patra
Foundation and is the worlds largest school meal programme being implemented
across seven states in India and covering about ten lakh students in over 4,800
schools. The allocation was of Rs 8000 crore for the Mid-Day meal schemes in the
interim budget 2009.
About Akshaya Patra Foundation
Akshaya Patra Foundation is a non-profit, Bangalore-based secular trust, evolved
the free meal programme in schools in the year 2000. It is one of the most
successful public-private partnership which has successfully proved that the
government in association with the private sector can achieve much if they get
together. The mid-day meal provided by Akshaya Patra is funded equally by
Government mid-day meal grants and by the generosity of the private sector.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a non-profit, Bangalore-based secular trust, evolved
the free meal programme in schools in the year 2000. What started as a pilot project
in five schools in Bangalore, feeding 1,500 children, has now grown into a mammoth
endeavour covering over 9,83,000 children in over 4,500 government, government
aided schools and anganwadis (day care centers) in 17 locations spread across
seven states in India, day after day. This is amongst the largest school meal NGO
run programme in the world. The foundation expects to reach a magical figure of five
million children by 2020.
Six days a week, without a stop, the foundation provides unlimited, nutritious,
hygienically cooked noon meals in government schools and government-run day-
care centres (anganwadis), Ushering in a technology-intensive operating model that
ensures high-quality, hygienic food on the one hand and increases internal
efficiencies on the other, the programme has brought about policy changes at the
state government levels and created a new image for mid-day meals in India.
Akshaya Patra is an eloquent demonstration of public private partnership as it is run
with part subsidies from the government, besides financial support from corporates
and individual philanthropists.
The programme is independently governed by a Board of Trustees, an Advisory
Panel consisting of professionals from the corporate world and bureaucracy,
dedicated employees and a team of volunteers. The programme is advised in
rigorous accounting standards and services by KPMG to ensure transparency and
accountability to all its donors.
A study in the year 2006 by AC Nielsen Org Marg, has vouchsafed for the efficacy of
the program in increasing attendance in schools, improving nutritional status of
these children, enhancing their learning abilities and reducing drop out rates. The
foundations work has been praised by all quarters and a recent feather in its cap
has been the study conducted by Harvard Business School.
20. Integrated Child Development Services Scheme ICDS
The Integrated Child Development Sevices Programme aims at providing services
to pre-school children in an integrated manner so as to ensure proper growth and
development of children in rural, tribal and slum areas. ICDS is a centrally
sponsored scheme.
Launched on 2nd October 1975 in 33 Community Development Blocks, ICDS today
represents one of the worlds largest programmes for early childhood development.
ICDS is the foremost symbol of Indias commitment to her children Indias
response to the challenge of providing pre-school education on one hand and
breaking the vicious cycle of malnutrition, morbidity, reduced learning capacity and
mortality, on the other.
It is an inter-sectoral programme which seeks to directly reach out to children, below
six years, especially from vulnerable and remote areas and give them a head-start
by providing an integrated programme of early childhood education, health and
nutrition. No programme on Early Childhood Care and Education can succeed
unless mothers are also brought within it ambit as it is in the lap of the mother that
human beings learn the first lessons in life.
Objectives:
-To improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age group of 0 to 6
years.
-To lay the foundations for proper psychological, physical and social development of
the child.
-To reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school drop-out.
-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 through proper nutrition and health education.
Sources: indiabudget.nic.in
rural.nic.in