Line department at the district level and Convergence

Line departments at district level comes under the jurisdiction of Deputy Commissioner/
District Magistrate of the district. The Deputy Commissioner/ District Magistrate monitor
and leads the department with regular review and meetings. The line departments at the
district level are:

Convergence
Convergence is among one of the major components of Nation Nutrition Mission. Inter
sectoral convergence was designed.
Need of Convergence:
1. Greater impact on outcomes.
2. Participation helps Ministries/ Departments achieve their goals.
3. Shared responsibility and accountability.
4. Opportunities and Areas for Convergence
 

Opportunities for convergence between the Departments of WCD and HFW are numerous.
Between the two departments the following can be achieved:
Improved nutritional status of women and children, particularly the marginalized, and in so
doing, intervening in an area critical to health improvement
Women empowerment through programmes for credit, leadership and livelihood training
and engaging them to discuss and take action to improve health parameters at the
household level and advocate for gender equity and improved service access and quality,
through a rights perspective
Success of convergence in health, nutrition, and empowerment requires convergence of
approaches in DWCD and DHFW in: behaviour change communication strategies, planning
modalities, monitoring and information systems, capacity building and training inputs.
Additionally the DHFW must ensure that convergence efforts are backed by a strong service
delivery system, responsive to community needs.
The following areas of convergence between DHFW and DWCD could be considered:
Women and Childrens Health: Mobilization of women, adolescents, and children and
provision of a package of quality health education and services at the village level[1].
Womens empowerment, gender and equity: Involvement of community based womens
groups to ensure that social and related determinants of health including gender and equity
are addressed. These include prevention of early child marriages, implementation of the
PNDT Act, including awareness and action against girl child elimination, leading to distorted
sex ratios, domestic violence, and mobilization of resources through collective action for
health and other emergencies.
Convergence between the following functions of both departments for nutrition, health and
womens empowerment is also necessary. They include:
Joint formulation of BCC strategies, materials, and messages,
Operational strategies for joint planning at village, block and district levels,
Development of joint MIS including common indicators,
Identification of functional areas for training of staff including joint training
Key Convergence Areas and Operational Strategies

[1]  such as immunization and micronutrient supplementation for children and pregnant
women, Integrated Management of Newborn and Sick Child (IMNCI), examination of
pregnant and post partum mothers, distribution of pills and condoms for birth spacing,
health education, and referral.