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Some Government of India Development Programs &Schemes2009-05-03 02:05:00 GKToday

1. Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY)2. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)3. Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)4. Rural Housing Schemes5. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)6. Drought Prone Areas Program (DPAP)7. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)8. Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)

9. Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY)10.Food For Work Programme FFWP11. National Social Assistance Programme12. Annapaurna13. District Rural Development Agency Administration (DRDA)14. The Council for Advancement of Peoples Action and Rural Technology(CAPART)15. Bharat Nirman16. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

17. Accredited Social Health Activist ASHA18. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan19. Mid-Day Meal Scheme20. Integrated Child Development Services Scheme ICDS

1. Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY)PMGY was launched in 2000-2001 in all States and Union Territories (UTs) in orderto achieve the objective of sustainable human development at the village level.

The PMGY envisages allocation of Additional Central Assistance (ACA) to the Statesand UTs for selected basic minimum services in order to focus on certain priorityareas. PMGY initially had five components viz., primary health, primary education,rural shelter, rural drinking water and nutrition. Rural electrification was added as anadditional component from 2001-02. For 2002-03 as well as 2003-04, the allocationof ACA for PMGY was Rs.2,800 crore. Both financial and physical monitoring of theprogramme is being carried out by the Planning Commission.

2. Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)

After a review and restructuring of the erstwhile Integrated Rural DevelopmentProgram and allied schemes, SGSY was launched in April, 1999 and is the only selfemployment Programme currently being implemented. The objective of the SGSY isto bring the assisted Swarozgaris above the poverty line by providing themincomegenerating assets through bank credit and Government subsidy. The
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Scheme is being implemented on a 75:25 cost sharing of between the Centre andthe States. Since its inception, and up to April 2004, a total allocation of Rs. 6,734crore was made available by the Centre and States. Rs. 4,980 crore, have beenutilized up to April 2004, benefiting 45.67 lakh Swarozgaris.

3. Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)The SGRY was launched in September 2001, by merging the ongoing Schemes of

Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana (JGSY) and Employment Assurance Scheme(EAS). The objective of the programme is to provide additional wage employment inthe rural areas as also food security, along with the creation of durable community,social and economic infrastructure in rural areas. The SGRY is open to all rural poorwho are in need of wage employment and desire to do manual and unskilled work inand around the village/habitat. The Scheme is implemented through Panchyati RajInstitutions. The scheme envisages generation of 100 crore man-days ofemployment in a year. The cost of each component of the programme is shared bythe Centre and States in the ratio of 75:25. During the year 2003-04 an amount of

Rs. 4,121 crore as cash component and 49.97 lakh tones of food grain werereleased to the States/UTs and 76.45 crore man-days (Provisional) have beengenerated as reported by the States/UTs. Under the Special Component of theSGRY, 65.84 lakh tonnes of foodgrain have been released to 12 calamity affectedStates during 2003-04.

4. Rural Housing SchemesRural housing schemes such as Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) aim at providingdwelling units, free of cost, to the poor families of the Scheduled Castes (SCs),

Scheduled Tribes (STs), freed bonded laborers and also the non- SC/ST personsBelow Poverty Line (BPL) in the rural areas. The Scheme is funded on a cost-sharing basis of 75:25 between the Center and States. Till the end of 2003-04, theceiling on construction assistance under IAY was Rs. 20,000/- in plain areas andRs. 22,000/- in hilly areas, which has been increased to Rs. 25,000/- per unit forplain areas and Rs. 27,500/- for hilly areas from April 1, 2004. Twenty per cent of theallocation is allowed for upgradation of unserviceable Kutcha houses for whichceiling of Rs. 12,500 per unit applies since April 2004. Credit-cum-Subsidy Schemefor rural housing targeting rural families having annual income up to Rs.32, 000 was

launched on April 4, 1999. An amount of Rs. 10 crore as equity support wasprovided to Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) during 2003-04by Ministry of Rural Development. In addition, the innovative scheme of RuralHousing and Habitat Development and Rural Building Centres (RBCs) wasintroduced to encourage innovative, cost effective and environment friendly solutionsin building/housing sectors in rural areas. A National Mission for Rural Housing andHabitat has also been set up to address the critical issues of housing gap andinduction of science and technology inputs into the housing/construction sector inrural areas. Since inception (up to June 1, 2004) 113.96 lakh houses have been

constructed/upgraded by incurring an expenditure of Rs. 19,869 crore. During 2003-04, against the target of 14.84 lakh, 12.54 lakh (provisional) houses have beenconstructed/upgraded.

5. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)


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The PMGSY, was launched in December, 2000, to provide road connectivity to 1.6lakh unconnected habitations with population of 500 persons or more (250 in case ofhilly, desert and tribal areas) in the rural areas by the end of the Tenth Plan period. Itis being executed in all the States and six UTs. Although the initial estimatesindicated a requirement of Rs. 60,000 crore for the program, the present indicationsare that about Rs.1,30,000 crore will be needed for achieving the intendedconnectivity. As per the Budget announcements of 2003-04, the diesel cess which

is the source for funding the programme, was increased from Re. 1 per litre to Rs.1.50 per litre, in order to provide additional funds for the programme. Since theinception of the program, project proposals for Rs. 14,417 crore have been clearedand 88,685 Kms. of rural roads have been taken up under this program. 20,740 roadworks had been completed till March 2004, and an expenditure of over Rs. 6,547crore has been incurred by the States/UTs. The National Rural Roads DevelopmentAgency (NRRDA), registered under the Societies Registration Act, providesOperations and Management support for the program. The Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB) has agreed to support the development of rural roads in Madhya

Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which have been identified as recipient States for thefirst tranche. The ADB Board has approved a loan of $400 million (in a project sizeof $571 million). The States of Assam, Orissa and West Bengal have been identifiedfor the second tranche of ADB assistance, of the order of US $500million. A firsttranche of $400 million for funding projects in Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand,Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh is likely to be available from the World Bank by the endof 2004-05

6. Drought Prone Areas Program (DPAP)

Desert Development Program (DDP) and Integrated Wastelands DevelopmentProgram (IWDP) are being implemented for the development of wastelands /degraded lands. DPAP was launched in 1973-74 to tackle the special problemsfaced by those areas constantly affected by drought conditions. DDP was launchedin 1977-78 to mitigate the adverse effects of desertification. IWDP has been underimplementation since 1989-90. These programs were implemented on a sectoralbasis till 1994-95. Since April 1995, these programs are being implemented onwatershed basis. For the project DPAP, total number of the projects sanctionedwere 2,535, with funds released by the Centre at Rs 295 crore. Under DDP, 1,562

projects have been sanctioned with funds of amount Rs.215 crore; and underIWDP, 190 projects with funding of Rs. 306 crore, were sanctioned. The cost normsfor all the three schemes have been revised to Rs.6,000 per hectare. Under DPAPand DDP, the cost is shared between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 75:25,while in the case of IWDP, Rs.5,500 is borne by the Central Government andRs.500 is shared by the States.

7. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

AAY was launched in December 2000. Under the scheme 1 crore of the poorestamong the BPL families covered under the targeted public distribution system areidentified. Twenty five kilograms (kg) of food grains were made available to eacheligible family at a highly subsidized rate of Rs. 2 per kg for wheat and Rs.3 per kgfor rice. This quantity has been enhanced from 25 to 35 kgs with effect from April,


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2002. The scheme has been further expanded in June 2003 by adding another 50lakh BPL families. Under the scheme, during 2002-03, against an allocation of 41.27lakh tonnes of foodgrain, 35.39 lakh tonnes have been lifted by State Governments,and during 2003-04, 38.24 lakh tonnes of food-grain have been lifted against anallocation of 45.56 lakh tonnes.

8. Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)

The Urban Self-Employment Program and the Urban Wage Employment Programare two special schemes of the SJSRY initiated in December 1997, which replacedvarious programs operated earlier for urban poverty alleviation. Between the Centreand the States, SJSRY is funded on a 75:25 basis. During 2002-03, the fullallocation of Rs.105 crore provided for various components of this program wasreleased. For 2003-04, an allocation of Rs.94.50 crore plus Rs. 10.5 crore for NorthEast and Sikkim was provided for various components of this program. Theexpenditure during 2003-04 was Rs. 105 crore.

9. Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY)The VAMBAY was launched in December 2001 to ameliorate the conditions of theurban slum dwellers living below the poverty line without adequate shelter. Thescheme has the primary objective of facilitating the construction and up-gradation ofdwelling units for slum dwellers and providing a healthy and enabling urbanenvironment through community toilets under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, a componentof the scheme. The Central Government provides a subsidy of 50 per cent, thebalance 50 per cent being arranged by the State Government. There are prescribedceilings on costs both for dwelling units and community toilets. During 2003-04,

Central subsidy to the extent of Rs. 239 crore has been released. Since inception upto May 2004, Rs. 522 crore have been released as Government of India subsidy forthe construction/upgradation of 2,46,035 dwelling units and 29,263 toilet seats underthe scheme.

10.Food For Work Programme: FFWPThe Food for Work Programme was started in January, 2000-01 as part of theEmployment Assurance Scheme (EAS) in eight drought affected States viz.Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa,

Rajasthan, Uttaranchal. The Food for Work Programmes (FFWP) was laterexpanded to form a part of any wage employment scheme of the Central or StateGovernments being implemented in the notified districts during periodsof natural calamities, such as drought, flood, cyclone or earthquake. Now theprogramme is in operation in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh,Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra,Orissa and Rajasthan. For the States/Areas which are formally notified naturalcalamities affected, the programme will continue up to 31st of March 2002.In this programme the cash component of the wage and material is met from the

Scheme under which it is being implemented. The cost of transportation offoodgrains from FCI godowns to the worksites/PDS and its distribution is theresponsibility of the State Government.Government of India makes availableappropriate quantity of foodgrains to each of the affected States. Foodgrains aresupplied to the States as an additionality and free of cost. The cost is borne by the


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Government of India with a view of enabling the State Governments to provideadequate wage employment opportunities to the needy rural poor.

11. National Social Assistance Programme:The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) which came into effect from15th August, 1995, is a 100 % Centrally Sponsored Programme. It has threecomponents namely, National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), National Family

Benefit Scheme (NFBS) and National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS). The NMBShas since been transferred to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare w.e.f. 1-4-2001. The NSAP aims at providing social security in case of old age, death ofprimary breadwinner andmaternity. The main objectives and features of the twoschemes, NOAPS and NFBS are given below:The Programme aims at ensuring aminimum national standard of social assistance in addition to the benefit that Statesare already providing. The Central assistance is not todisplace expenditure by States on social protection schemes. However, theStates/UTs are free to expand their own coverage of social assistance whenever

they wish to do so.

12. Annapaurna:The Annapurna Scheme has been launched with effect from 1st April, 2000. It aimsat providing food security to meet the requirement of those senior citizens who,though eligible, have remained uncovered under the National Old Age PensionScheme(NOAPS). The Scheme is targeted to cover, 20% (13.762 Lakh) of personseligible to receive pension under NOAPS.The Central assistance under theAnnapurna Scheme is, thus, provided to the beneficiaries on fulfilling the following

criteria :1. The age of the applicant ( male or female) should be 65 years or above.2. The applicant must be a destitute in the sense of having little or no regular meansof substance from his/her own source of income or through financial support fromfamily members or other sources. In order to determine destitution , the criteria, ifany, in force in the States/UTs may also be followed.3. The applicant should not be in receipt of pension under the NOAPSor StatePension Scheme.4. The beneficiaries are given 10 Kg. of foodgrains per month free of cost.

Funds are currently released to the State Departments of Food & Civil Supplies(F&CS;) in one instalment . This Department then ties up with the Food Corporationof India (FCI), to release foodgrains districtwise on payment of the cost ofFoodgrains at CIP rates directly to the FCI offices. Initially the foodgrains weresupplied at economic cost ( Rs.9.80 per Kg.). However, w.e.f. 1.11.2000, foodgrainsare supplied at the CIP rates for BPL families( Rs.4.90 per Kg.) The beneficiariesunder the scheme are selected in the Gram Sabhas and the Gram Panchayatdistribute the entitlement cards to the beneficiaries.

13. District Rural Development Agency Administration (DRDA)Over the years the District Rural Development Agencies have emerged as theprincipal organs at the district level to oversing the implementation of differentpoverty alleviation programmes. Since inception, the administrative costs of theDRDAs were met by setting apart a certain percentage of the allocation for each


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Programme. Of late, while the number of programmes increased, not allProgrammes provided for the administrative cost of the DRDAs.Keeping in view the need for an effective agency at the district level to co-ordinatethe poverty alleviation efforts, a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme for strengtheningthe DRDAs was introduced w.e.f. 1st April, 1999.The primary objective of the DRDA Administration Scheme is to professionalise theDRDAs so that they are able to effectively manage the poverty alleviation

programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development and interact purposively withother agencies. The DRDAs are expected to (effectively) coordinate with thePanchayati Raj Institutions. DRDAs are to maintain their separate identity under theguidelines even though the Chairman of the Zilla Parishad is also theChairman of the governing body of DRDA.

14. The Council for Advancement of Peoples Action and Rural Technology(CAPART)The Council for Advancement of Peoples Action and Rural Technology (CAPART)

was set up as a pioneer organisation in September, 1986, as a supporting andfunding agency for the Voluntary Organisations (VOs) by merging two organisations,namely, Peoples Action for Development (India) and Council for Advancement ofRural Technology (CART) with the mandate to promote voluntary action andpropagate appropriate rural technologies for the benefit of the rural masses. Sincethen, CAPART has been contributing towards the rural development and povertyalleviation through the work of VOs at the grassroots level and by supplementingGovernments efforts.The Minister for Rural Development, Government of India, is the President

of the Council and also the Chairman of the Executive Committee of theCouncil.The General Body comprises, not exceeding, 100 members representing voluntaryagencies, Central and States Government, institutions engaged in activitiesconnected with rural development, rural technology and individuals possessingexperience/expertise relevant to the furtherance of the aforesaid objectives ofCAPART. They are nominated by the President of the Council.The ExecutiveCommittee of CAPART comprises a maximum of 25 members nominated by thePresident of CAPART from amongst the members of the General Body. There is

also a Standing Committee on Finance and Appointments which is chaired by theDirector.

15. Bharat Nirman:Bharat Nirman is a a time-bound plan for rural infrastructure by the Government ofIndia in partnership with State Governments and Panchayat Raj Institutions.Tasks Under Bharat Nirman:

1. Every village to be provided electricity: remaining 1,25,000 villages to be coveredby 2009 as well as connect 2.3 crore households

2. Every habitation over 1000 population and above (500 in hilly and tribal areas) tobe provided an all-weather road: remaining 66,802 habitations to be covered by 20093. Every habitation to have a safe source of drinking water: 55,067 uncoveredhabitations to be covered by 2009. In addition all habitations which have slipped backfrom full coverage to partial coverage due to failure of source and habitations which


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have water quality problems tobe addressed4. Every village to be connected by telephone: remaining 66,822 villages to becovered by November 20075. 10 million hectares (100 lakhs) of additional irrigation capacity to be created by2009 60 lakh houses to be constructed for the rural poor by 2009

16. National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme:The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA, also known as NationalRural Employment Guarantee Scheme, NREGS) is Indian legislation enacted onAugust 25, 2005. The NREGA provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days ofemployment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willingto do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage.This act was introduced with an aim of improving the purchasing power of the ruralpeople, primarily semi or un-skilled work to people living below poverty line in ruralIndia. It attempts to bridge the gap between the rich and poor in the country. Roughly

one-third of the stipulated work force must be women.The act was brought about bythe UPA coalition government headed by Dr. Manmohan Singh. The promise of thisproject was one of the major factors that gained UPA victory in the Indian generalelection, 2004. Dr. Jean Drze, a Belgian born economist, at the Delhi School ofEconomics, has been a major influence on this project.Central Government shall meet the cost towards the payment of wage, 3/4 ofmaterial cost and certain percentage of administrative cost. State Government shallmeet the cost towards unemployed allowance, 1/4 of material cost andadministrative cost of State council.

Adult members of rural households submit their name, age and address with phototo the Gram Panchayat. The Gram panchayat registers households after makingenquiry and issues a job card. The job card contains the details of adult memberenrolled and his /her photo. Registered person can submit an application for work inwriting (for at least fourteen days of continuous work) either to panchayat or toProgramme Officer.The panchayat/programme officer will accept the valid application and issue datedreceipt of application, letter providing work will be sent to the applicant and alsodisplayed at panchayat office. The employment will be provided within a radius of 5

km: if it is above 5 km extra wage will be paid.If employment under the scheme is not provided within fifteen days of receipt of theapplication daily unemployment allowance will be paid to the applicant.

17. Accredited Social Health Activist ASHA:ASHA is a new band of community under National Rural Health Mission, whichserves as first port of call for any health related demands of deprived sections of thepopulation, especially women and children, who find it difficult to access healthservices. The main objective is to provide every village in the country with a trained

female community health activist ASHA or Accredited Social Health Activist.Selected from the village itself and accountable to it, the ASHA will be trained to workas an interface between the community and the public health system.

Key Components:


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1. ASHA must primarily be a woman resident of the village married/ widowed/divorced, preferably in the age group of 25 to 45 years.2. She should be a literate woman with formal education up to class eight. This maybe relaxed only if no suitable person with this qualification is available.3. ASHA will be chosen through a rigorous process of selection involving variouscommunity groups, self-help groups, Anganwadi Institutions, the Block Nodal officer,District Nodal officer, the village Health Committee and the Gram Sabha.

4. Capacity building of ASHA is being seen as a continuous process. ASHA will havet undergo series of training episodes to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills andconfidence for performing her spelled out roles.5. The ASHAs will receive performance-based incentives for promoting universalimmunization, referral and escort services for Reproductive & Child Health (RCH)and other healthcare programmes, and construction of household toilets.6. Empowered with knowledge and a drug-kit to deliver first-contact healthcare,every ASHA is expected to be a fountainhead of community participation in publichealth programmes in her village.

7. ASHA will be the first port of call for any health related demands of deprivedsections of the population, especially women and children, who find it difficult toaccess health services.8. ASHA will be a health activist in the community who will create awareness onhealth and its social determinants and mobilise the community towards local healthplanning and increased utilisation and accountability of the existing health services.9. She would be a promoter of good health practices and will also provide aminimum package of curative care as appropriate and feasible for that level andmake timely referrals.

10. ASHA will provide information to the community on determinants of health suchas nutrition, basic sanitation & hygienic practices, healthy living and workingconditions, information on existing health services and the need for timely utilisationof health & family welfare services.11. She will counsel women on birth preparedness, importance of safe delivery,breast-feeding and complementary feeding, immunization, contraception andprevention of common infections including Reproductive Tract Infection/SexuallyTransmitted Infections (RTIs/STIs) and care of the young child.12. ASHA will mobilise the community and facilitate them in accessing health and

health related services available at the Anganwadi/sub-centre/primary healthcenters, such as immunisation, Ante Natal Check-up (ANC), Post Natal Check-upsupplementary nutrition, sanitation and other services being provided by thegovernment.13. She will act as a depot older for essential provisions being made available to allhabitations like Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORS), Iron Folic Acid Tablet(IFA),chloroquine, Disposable Delivery Kits (DDK), Oral Pills & Condoms, etc.14. At the village level it is recognised that ASHA cannot function without adequateinstitutional support. Womens committees (like self-help groups or womens health

committees), village Health & Sanitation Committee of the Gram Panchayat,peripheral health workers especially ANMs and Anganwadi workers, and the trainersof ASHA and in-service periodic training would be a major source of support toASHA.website of ASHA :


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http://www.mohfw.nic.in/eag/accredited_social_health_activis.htm18. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan:Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is Government of India's flagship programme forachievement of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time boundmanner, as mandated by 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making freeand compulsory Education to the Children of 6-14 years age group, a FundamentalRight. SSA is being implemented in partnership with State Governments to cover

the entire country and address the needs of 192 million children in 1.1 millionhabitations. The programme seeks to open new schools in those habitations whichdo not have schooling facilities and strengthen existing school infrastructure throughprovision of additional class rooms, toilets, drinking water, maintenance grant andschool improvement grants.Existing schools with inadequate teacher strength are provided with additionalteachers, while the capacity of existing teachers is being strengthened by extensivetraining, grants for developing teaching-learning materials and strengthening of theacademic support structure at a cluster, block and district level. SSA seeks to

provide quality elementary education including life skills. SSA has a special focus ongirl's education and children with special needs. SSA also seeks to providecomputer education to bridge the digital divide.Website: http://www.ssa.nic.in/

19. Mid-Day Meal Scheme:The Mid-day Meal Scheme involves provision of lunch free of cost to school-childrenon all working days. The key objectives of the programme are: protecting childrenfrom classroom hunger, increasing school enrolment and attendance, improved

socialisation among children belonging to all castes, addressing malnutrition, andsocial empowerment through provision of employment to women. The scheme hasa long history especially in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, and has been expanded to allparts of India after a landmark direction by the Supreme Court of India on November28, 2001. The success of this scheme is illustrated by the tremendous increase inthe school participation and completion rates in the state of Tamilnadu. Allocation forthis programme has been enhanced from Rs 3010 crore to Rs 4813 crore (Rs 48billion, $1.2 billion) in 2006-2007. This program is being run by Akshaya PatraFoundation and is the worlds largest school meal programme being implemented

across seven states in India and covering about ten lakh students in over 4,800schools. The allocation was of Rs 8000 crore for the Mid-Day meal schemes in theinterim budget 2009.

About Akshaya Patra FoundationAkshaya Patra Foundation is a non-profit, Bangalore-based secular trust, evolvedthe free meal programme in schools in the year 2000. It is one of the mostsuccessful public-private partnership which has successfully proved that thegovernment in association with the private sector can achieve much if they get

together. The mid-day meal provided by Akshaya Patra is funded equally byGovernment mid-day meal grants and by the generosity of the private sector.The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a non-profit, Bangalore-based secular trust, evolvedthe free meal programme in schools in the year 2000. What started as a pilot projectin five schools in Bangalore, feeding 1,500 children, has now grown into a mammoth


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endeavour covering over 9,83,000 children in over 4,500 government, governmentaided schools and anganwadis (day care centers) in 17 locations spread acrossseven states in India, day after day. This is amongst the largest school meal NGOrun programme in the world. The foundation expects to reach a magical figure of fivemillion children by 2020.Six days a week, without a stop, the foundation provides unlimited, nutritious,hygienically cooked noon meals in government schools and government-run day-

care centres (anganwadis), Ushering in a technology-intensive operating model thatensures high-quality, hygienic food on the one hand and increases internalefficiencies on the other, the programme has brought about policy changes at thestate government levels and created a new image for mid-day meals in India.Akshaya Patra is an eloquent demonstration of public private partnership as it is runwith part subsidies from the government, besides financial support from corporatesand individual philanthropists.The programme is independently governed by a Board of Trustees, an AdvisoryPanel consisting of professionals from the corporate world and bureaucracy,

dedicated employees and a team of volunteers. The programme is advised inrigorous accounting standards and services by KPMG to ensure transparency andaccountability to all its donors.A study in the year 2006 by AC Nielsen Org Marg, has vouchsafed for the efficacy ofthe program in increasing attendance in schools, improving nutritional status ofthese children, enhancing their learning abilities and reducing drop out rates. Thefoundations work has been praised by all quarters and a recent feather in its caphas been the study conducted by Harvard Business School.

20. Integrated Child Development Services Scheme ICDSThe Integrated Child Development Sevices Programme aims at providing servicesto pre-school children in an integrated manner so as to ensure proper growth anddevelopment of children in rural, tribal and slum areas. ICDS is a centrallysponsored scheme.Launched on 2nd October 1975 in 33 Community Development Blocks, ICDS todayrepresents one of the worlds largest programmes for early childhood development.ICDS is the foremost symbol of Indias commitment to her children Indias

response to the challenge of providing pre-school education on one hand andbreaking the vicious cycle of malnutrition, morbidity, reduced learning capacity andmortality, on the other.It is an inter-sectoral programme which seeks to directly reach out to children, belowsix years, especially from vulnerable and remote areas and give them a head-startby providing an integrated programme of early childhood education, health andnutrition. No programme on Early Childhood Care and Education can succeedunless mothers are also brought within it ambit as it is in the lap of the mother thathuman beings learn the first lessons in life.

Objectives:-To improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age group of 0 to 6years.-To lay the foundations for proper psychological, physical and social development ofthe child.


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-To reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school drop-out.-To achieve effective coordination of policy and implementation amongst the variousdepartments to promote child development.-To enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health andnutritional needs of the child through proper nutrition and health education.

Sources: indiabudget.nic.inrural.nic.in

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