Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Hunger / HDI | Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)
Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)

Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)

Share this article Share this article

What's Inside


The key findings of the World Food Programme's brief titled ICDS -- Tracking State Government Response to COVID-19: January to April 2021, released in April 2021 (please click here to access): 

• Since March 2020, World Food Programme (WFP) has been monitoring the implementation of ICDS at the State and UT level in response to the COVID-19 crisis. WFP has completed five rounds of the ICDS tracking of all the states/UTs and this report is based on the Sixth round of the tracking, undertaken between 14-26 April 2021.

• Launched in 1975, the Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) Scheme is the foremost symbol of the country’s commitment to women and children as the beneficiaries under the scheme are children aged 0-6 years, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. The six services available under ICDS are:
- Supplementary Nutrition (SNP)
- Pre-school non-formal education
- Nutrition & health education
- Immunization
- Health check-up and
- Referral services

• In view of the country-wide shut down due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, most of the states closed down the Anganwadi centres which resulted in the disruption of the ICDS services in the early phase of the pandemic in 2020. The supplementary nutrition component which is covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013 is a crucial component of the ICDS scheme to prevent malnutrition among the vulnerable groups of young children and pregnant and lactating women.

• In order to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and national lockdown on food and nutrition security, The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), GoI issued guidelines to ensure the access of the vulnerable groups to the nutrition and health services of the ICDS scheme and continue the door-to-door distribution of supplementary nutrition.

Some of the guidelines 

• On 30 March 2020, the Ministry of Women and Child Development issued a guidance to all states and UTs of India, to provide food security allowance as a single instalment to the extent possible, to each beneficiary, in case of non-supply of entitled quantities of food grains or meals to beneficiaries. For States/UTs, providing doorstep delivery of supplementary nutrition, necessary instructions were given to district authorities to utilize services of Anganwadi workers/helpers for continual nutrition support.

• On 2 September 2020 the annual POSHAN Maah celebration was launched, “to further accelerate various activities under POSHAN Abhiyaan and to create a Jan Andolan, in the process by adhering to the COVID-19 protocols” through virtual mode. This was done with an aim to sustain the focus on POSHAN Abhiyaan and its goal to reduce malnutrition among children, pregnant and lactating women in India.

• On 11 November 2020, recognizing the need of delivery of preventive measures to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nutrition, the Ministry issued guidelines on the reopening of the AWCs, outside the containment zone. In terms of supplementary nutrition, the guidelines stated that the “states/UTs may provide cooked food and take-home rations either at the AWCs or delivered at home, based on the prevailing local situation, while observing necessary social distancing and hygiene protocols during storage, preparation and distribution of the same”.

• Besides the guidelines issued by the MWCD, GoI, on 13 January 2021, the Supreme Court of India directed all states and UTs to take a decision to open all the Anganwadi centres outside the containment zone by the end of January 2021. The Court observed that it is a statutory obligation of governments to provide nutritional support to children and pregnant women belonging to the poor sections of the society. The three-judge bench said, “Children are the next generation and therefore unless and until the children and the women have the nutritious food, it will affect the next generation and ultimately the country as a whole. The children must be provided with nutritious food and Anganwadi schemes must be operative as soon as possible”.

Reopening of Anganwadi Centres (AWC)

• AWCs are currently closed in 25 states and UTs (70 percent) but the supplementary nutrition component of the ICDS scheme is still operational.

• AWCs were gradually opened in 5 states and UTs (14 percent); however due to the surge in the COVID-19 cases, they were closed again.

• AWCs are open in 3 states and UTs (7 percent) with all the services operational.

• One state-Madhya Pradesh (3 percent) is following a mixed model, the reopening of the AWCs is different for different districts.

• No information for 2 states and UTs (6 percent) - Arunachal Pradesh and Puducherry.

Modality of THR distribution

• Doorstep delivery of THR is taking place monthly/once every two months in 21 states and UTs (58 percent) whereas 3 states (8 percent) have organized doorstep delivery of THR on weekly/fortnightly basis.

• The THR is being collected at the AWCs by the beneficiaries in 8 states and UTs (22 percent).

• Nagaland (3 percent) is providing THR on a daily basis.

• Maharashtra (3 percent) is following a mixed model in which the THR is either being delivered at home or being collected from the AWCs.

• Information is not available for 2 states and UTs. (6 percent) - Arunachal Pradesh and Puducherry.

THR Food Basket

• 16 states and UTs (44 percent) are providing dry ration as part of their THR food basket.

• 8 states and UTs (25 percent) are providing dry ration and ready-to-eat (RTE) foods as part of THR food baskets.

• 3 states (8 percent) are providing dry ration, RTE foods, and eggs.

• 3 states and UTs (8 percent) are providing dry ration, eggs, and hot cooked meals (HCM).

• Bihar (3 percent) is providing dry ration and cash entitlement.

• Tripura (3 percent) is providing dry ration and eggs as part of the THR basket.

• Meghalaya (3 percent) is providing dry ration, RTE foods and HCM as part of the THR basket.

• Information is not available for 2 states and UTs. (6 percent) - Arunachal Pradesh and Puducherry.

Other findings which were observed during the January-April 2021 ICDS tracking

• A variety of food items are being provided by the state and UTs, including local nutritious food, including eggs, sorghum (jowar powder), chikki, fortified blended foods, milk, and skimmed milk powder (SMP).

• Other ICDS services like immunization, health check-up and growth monitoring are operational in 29 states and UTs (80 percent). These services are either being conducted through home visits or at the Anganwadi Centres, in a staggered manner, following the social distancing protocols. In 3 states, namely Kerala, Maharashtra and Ladakh, some ICDS services have been stalled due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. Information is not available for 4 states and UTs.

• Most of the frontline functionaries have been vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine.

• 17 states and UTs are also focusing on the pre-school education component of the ICDS scheme. To organize the pre-schooling activities, they are using digital platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Zoom which are leveraged by District Programme Officers to circulate daily schedule of activities to Anganwadi workers who then forward to parents to lead the activities at home. While some of the states are using mass media like television, others are distributing activity books as an initiative for continued pre-school learning. Around 39% of the states and UTs (14) have stalled all pre-school activities due to rise in the COVID-19 cases. Information is not available for the remaining 5 states and UTs.

Rural Expert
 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

Im4Change.org हिंदी वेबसाइट का परिचय. Short Video on im4change.org...

Im4Change.org हिंदी वेबसाइट का परिचय. Short Video on im4change.org...

"Session 1: Scope of IDEA and AgriStack" in Exploring...

"Session 2: Farmer Centric Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...

"Session 3: Future of Digitalisation in Agriculture" in Exploring...

Objectives | About Us | Workshops | Disclaimer
share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close