Revitalizing ICDS

ICDS-Integrated Child Development Services is India's only government program for combating the rampant malnutrition prevalent in young children. In this chapter, the authors aim to examine the need and scope of ICDS scheme, its services and countrywide reach; considering that every fifth child in the world lives in India, this scheme is critical to ensuring that today's children who are our citizens of tomorrow are well nurtured and nourished, thus securing the country's future. Also its efficacy in achieving stated objectives is assessed through analysis of vital parameters such as nutritional status, mortality rates etc. Further, the bottlenecks facing the scheme such as lack of adequate sanitation facilities and supervisory staff etc. are studied and the initiatives taken by the government to revitalize it are also examined. The transformation into Mission Mode has ushered in programmatic, institutional and management reforms and renewed thrust on creating awareness through an Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign.