Anganwadi beneficiaries dropped by 2 crores in 7 years

As per data submitted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in the Parliament, the number of beneficiaries under the government’s Anganwadi programme has declined in the number of by nearly two crores.

Highlights

• There were some 10.45 crore pregnant women, lactating mothers and children aged six months to six years who were enrolled at nearly 14 lakh Anganwadi centres during 2014-2015.
• This number has declined and dropped to 8.55 crore by March, 2020.
• The number of children has also declined from 8.49 crore in 2014-2015 to 6.86 crore in March 2020.
• The number of pregnant women and lactating mothers declined from 1.95 crore in 2014-15 to 1.68 crore in March 2020.
• The reason for this decline was not highlighted by the government.

Why number of enrolled children has declined?

Though the actual reasons for the declines in the number of children is unknown, some of the possible reasons for the decline could be:

1. Those children who were unable to submit Aadhaar might have been knocked out as ‘fake’.
2. The genuine fakes could have been identified with the help of Aadhaar.
3. Census 2011 shows that the absolute population in the younger age groups was declining in States with a low fertility rate. So, the number might have declined because of changing demographics.

Anganwadi

It is a kind of rural child care centre in India. These centres were started by the Indian government in the year 1975. The centres were established under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program to combat the child hunger and malnutrition.

Integrated Child Development Scheme

This scheme was launched in the year 1975. Though in 1978, Morarji Desai government had discontinued it but in the Tenth Five Year Plan it was relaunched. The scheme comprises of a package of six services which are administered at various Anganwadi centres. The services include the immunisation, supplementary nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, health check-up, health education, and referral services.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2021