Incentivizing and Revising Government's Nutritional Schemes

India has a high prevalence of stunting, wasting, and anemia which continues to pose public health risks for children and women. India must strengthen its existing social sector schemes, such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) to tackle this.

• The ICDS targets children aged 0-6 years, pregnant women, and lactating mothers; addresses non-formal preschool education; and breaks the cycle of malnutrition, morbidity, and mortality.

• Studies have shown that interventions focusing on nutrition, education, and health during early childhood can significantly improve human capital, particularly in developing countries. A study also highlights that World Development demonstrated the ICDS's positive impact on cognitive achievements, especially among girls and those from economically disadvantaged families.

• Despite four decades of relentless efforts, the ICDS still faces the herculean task of ameliorating the nutritional and health outcomes for children aged 0-6 years.

• A significant first step towards fortifying the program is to empower the Anganwadi workers. Though the cornerstone of the ICDS, they are frequently stretched beyond their limits.

Benefits of adding more Anganwadi Workforce:-

An additional Anganwadi worker could be added to each of India's many Anganwadi centers to lessen the load of these workers. Implementing these could adhere to at least a few of the benefits which are mentioned as follows:-

1. It would lead to better health and educational outcomes. Research shows that the addition of half-time workers effectively doubled the net preschool instructional time, which led to improvements in math and language test scores for children enrolled in the program.

2. The children who remained enrolled also exhibited reduced rates of child stunting and malnutrition.

3. The cost of a nationwide roll-out of this model is relatively insignificant in comparison to the potential advantages it offers.

4. The new Anganwadi worker can be given the responsibility of concentrating only on preschool and early childhood education. This would allow existing workers to dedicate more time to child health and nutrition. It would also enable the anganwadi workers to expand their outreach and serve a larger number of families.

5. Apart from only improving the well-being of rural communities, this would create job opportunities for residents, particularly women. It would lead to the creation of 1.3 million new jobs for women across India.

Apart from this, the data have shown a significant variation in the implementation of the ICDS and the level of skills of Anganwadi workers. Also the recent government update of renaming the Midday meal scheme as PM-POSHAN has recentivzed it. This requires further investments in the training program. Additionally, the exigency for infrastructural improvement in India's Anganwadi centers cannot be overstated.

To unlock the ICDS's full potential and address persistent issues, it is essential to revisit and re-evaluate its strategies and implementation. Empowering Anganwadi workers is just a start.

Source: An article from The Hindu Newspaper named Strengthening the ICDS Scheme written by Mr. Bibek Debroy and Mr. Aditya Singh.