Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

• AnIndian government welfare programme which provides food, preschool education, and primary healthcare to children under 6 years of age and their mothers. These services are provided from Anganwadi centres established mainly in rural areas and staffed with frontline workers. In addition to fighting malnutrition and ill health, the programme is also intended to combat gender inequality by providing girls the same resources as boys.
• A 2005 study found that the ICDS programme was not particularly effective in reducing malnutrition, largely because of implementation problems and because the poorest states had received the least coverage and funding.

The widespread network of ICDS has an important role in combating malnutrition especially for children of weaker groups.

Creche Scheme

• The Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme for the children of working mothers is the scheme launched by central government (Ministry of Woman and Child Development).
• The main objective of this scheme is to providing a nursery where babies and young children are cared for during the working day.

Employment of women has resulted in increased opportunities for their employment, and more and more women are now in gainful employment, working within or outside their homes. Thus the children of these women, who were earlier getting support from relatives and friends while their mothers were at work, are now in need of day care services which provide quality care and protection for the children. Therefore women need a safe place for their children in their absence. It has become necessary to provide support to the young children in terms of quality, substitute care and other services while the mothers are at work.

Reproductive and Child Health (RCH)

• The Government has been implementing the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) programme under the umbrella of National Rural Health Mission for providing health facilities to women and children in the country. A brief note on the RCH Programme is given below:

Brief Notes on RCH Programme

• Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) programme is a comprehensive sector wide flagship programme, under the bigger umbrella of the Government of India’s (GoI) National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)( Now part of National Health Mission), to deliver the RCH targets for reduction of maternal and infant mortality and total fertility rates.
• RCH program aims to reduce social and geographical disparities in access to, and utilisation of quality reproductive and child health services.
• Launched in April 2005 in partnership with the state governments, it is consistent with GoI’s National Population Policy-2000, the National Health Policy-2001 and the Millennium Development Goals.
• The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world’s main development challenges, the focus being the human dimension. Out of the eight goals MDG 4 and 5 relates to improving the health of maternal and child.
• To achieve the MDG and NRHM goals the RCH programme is being implemented with flexible programming approach by allowing the States to develop need based annual plans known as State Programme Implementation Plan.

The major components of the RCH programme are Maternal Health, Child Health, Immunization, Family Planning, Adolescent Health (AH) and PC-PNDT.

PULSE POLIO IMMUNIZATION PROGRAMME

• With the global initiative of eradication of polio in 1988 following World Health Assembly resolution in 1988, Pulse Polio Immunization programme was launched in India in 1995.

Children in the age group of 0-5 years administered polio drops during National and Sub-national immunization rounds (in high risk areas) every year.

Objective

• The Pulse Polio Initiative was started with an objective of achieving hundred per cent coverage under Oral Polio Vaccine.

It aimed to immunize children through improved social mobilization, plan mop-up operations in areas where poliovirus has almost disappeared and maintain high level of morale among the public.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan:

• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(Education for All Movement), or SSA, is an Indian Government programme aimed at the universalisation of elementary education “in a time bound manner”, as mandated by the 86th Amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory education to children between the ages of 6 to 14 (estimated to be 205 million children in 2001) a fundamental right.

Midday Meal Scheme:

• The Midday Meal Schemeis a school meal programme of the Government of India designed to improve the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide.

The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in government, government aided, local body, Education Guarantee Scheme, and alternate innovative education centres, Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and National Child Labour Project schools run by the ministry of labour.

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya:

• TheKasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya scheme was introduced by the Government of India in August 2004, then integrated in the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program, to provide educational facilities for girls belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minority communities and families below the poverty line in Educationally Backward Blocks.
• Gender disparities still persist in rural areas and among disadvantaged communities. Looking at enrollment trends, there remain significant gaps in the enrollment of girls at the elementary level as compared to boys, especially at the upper primary levels.

The objective of KGBV is to ensure that quality education is feasible and accessible to the girls of disadvantaged groups of society by setting up residential schools with boarding facilities at elementary level.

Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS):

• In 2006 the Ministry of Women and Child Development(MWCD) proposed the adoption of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS).
• In 2009 the central government take the scheme its approval and has begun the extensive task of providing children with a protection and safe environment to develop and flourish.
• The purpose of the scheme is to provide for children in difficult circumstances, as well as to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities children have in various situations and actions that lead to abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment and separation of children.

The specific objectives of the scheme are:

• To institutionalize essential services and strengthen structures
• To enhance capacities at all systems and persons involved in service delivery
• To create database and knowledge base for child protection services
• To strengthen child protection at family and community level
• To coordinate and network with government institutions and non-government institutions to ensure effective implementation of the scheme

To raise public awareness about child rights, child vulnerability and child protection services.

KISHORI SHAKTI YOJANA:

• KSY aims at empowering adolescent girls so that they may become responsible citizens.
• It looks at all aspects of adolescent girl development.
• The large objective of the scheme is to advance the nutritional, health and development status of adolescent girls, support increasing knowledge of health, hygiene, nutrition and family care, and to integrate them with opportunities for learning life skills, going back to school, helping girls grow to understand their society and become prolific members of the society.
• The scheme functions in the existing ICDS infrastructure.
• Under this scheme adolescent girls are offered non-formal education in life education aspects including physical, developmental and sex education. The girls are congregated at anganwadi centres.

Girls can also be given basic health supplements such as IFA and de-worming tablets. Girls can also be given vocational training at the centres.

LADLI SCHEME

• Ladli Scheme is a scheme that aims to alter the position of the girl kid in family/the public.
• It also aims to help modify the people’s mindsets for appropriate taking care of the girl kid and as well to offer the girl child their birth rights as stated in Indian constitution. Daughters are taking care of extremely deprived in current society in contrast to boys in the society.
• The behavior a girl child takes from the family members is extremely pitiable. To battle all the troubles such as female foeticide, waning females sex ratio & to augment the figure of daughters in the families of society government has set up a variety of plans in which a girl child obtains particular profits.
• LADLI YOJNA is among such plans and schemes. On the birthday occasion of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi this scheme was started in the year of 2008.
• According to the scheme the daughter child obtains free education & upbringing with additionally after eighteen years of age she will be permitted to acquire one Lakh rupees.

This money is given in her name and it can be utilized for the marriage of the girl which is considered by some parents as burden in the society.

BETI BACHAO BETI PADHAO SCHEME

• The trend of decline in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR), defined as number of girls per 1000 of boys between 0-6 years of age, has been unabated since 1961.
• The decline from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and further to 918 in 2011 is alarming. The decline in the CSR is a major indicator of women dis-empowerment.
• CSR reflects both, pre-birth discrimination manifested through gender biased sex selection, and post birth discrimination against girls.
• Social construct discriminating against girls on the one hand, easy availability, affordability and subsequent misuse of diagnostic tools on the other hand, have been critical in increasing Sex Selective Elimination of girls leading to low Child Sex Ratio.
• Since coordinated and convergent efforts are needed to ensure survival, protection and empowerment of the girl child, Government has announced Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)
• The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme has been introduced in October, 2014 to address the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR).
• The Scheme was launched on 22^ndJanuary, 2015 at Panipat in Haryana.

It is a tri-ministerial effort of Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health & Family Welfare and Human Resource Development.

Sukanya Samridhi Scheme:

• Sukanya Samriddhi Account(literally Girl Child Prosperity Account) is a Government of India backed saving scheme targeted at the parents of girl children.
• The scheme encourages parents to build a fund for the future education and marriage expenses for their female child.
• The scheme was launched by Prime MinisterNarendra modi on 22 January 2015 as a part of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao
• The scheme currently provides an interest rate of 8.6% (for FY2016-17) and tax benefits.

The account can be opened at any India Post office or branch of authorised commercial banks.