Lack of Anganwadis in Urban Areas

• 05 Feb 2020

Why in News

Recently, the government’s response to a Right to Information (RTI) query has revealed that for every 100 anganwadi beneficiaries in the country, only 7 are in urban areas.

• The minuscule presence of beneficiaries is due to lack of Anganwadi centres in urban areas.
• This shows poor coverage by the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in urban areas.

Anganwadi Centres

• Anganwadis or day-care centres are set up under the centrally sponsored Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme.
  
  • The scheme is being implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• Anganwadi centres provide a package of six services: supplementary nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, immunisation, nutrition and health education, as well as referral services.
• Aim: To reduce infant mortality and child malnutrition.
• Beneficiaries: Children in the age group of zero to six years, and pregnant women and lactating mothers.

Current Scenario

• Number of beneficiaries
  
  • Out of 7.95 crore beneficiaries of the Anganwadi scheme in the country as on September 30, 2019, only 55 lakh were registered at urban anganwadis.
• Less number of anganwadi centres in urban areas
  
  • There are 13.79 lakh anganwadis operational across the country, out of which 9.31 lakh centres are linked to the government’s web-enabled data entry system called Rapid Reporting System.
  • Of that linked anganwadis, 1.09 lakh centres are in urban areas and the remaining 8.22 lakh are in rural areas of the country.
• Scope for coverage by the scheme
  
  • National Nutrition Survey 2016-18 found that 35% of children under five were stunted and 17% were wasted.
    
    • It also found that 22% of children in the age group of 5-9 years were stunted and 23% were thin for their age.
  • Urban areas specific: Children in urban areas showed two to three times higher prevalence of obesity as compared to their peers in rural areas.
• Latest Step Taken
  
  • The NITI Aayog has been working on a draft paper to strengthen the ICDS programme in urban areas, keeping in mind challenges such as migration, population density and the long commute involved for workers and beneficiaries.

Source:TH