What is Integrated Child Development Services?

Children under the age of six and their mothers are provided with food, preschool education, and primary healthcare through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program of the Indian government.

What Are Integrated Child Development Services?

The government’s Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) Scheme, which provides children with supplemental nourishment, immunisation, and pre-school education, is a popular flagship initiative. It is one of the world’s largest programs, having been established in 1975 and providing an integrated package of services for the holistic development of children. The ICDS is a federally funded program that is carried out by state governments and union territories. The plan is national in scope, encompassing all of the country’s districts. Anganwadi Services is the new name for the scheme.

Objectives

• Improve the nutritional and health status of children aged between 0 to 6 years.
• Lay the groundwork for the child’s optimal psychological, physical, and social development.
• Lower the mortality rate, morbidity rate, malnutrition rate, and school dropout rate..
• Achieve effective policy and implementation coordination among various departments to promote child development.
• Through nutrition and health education, to help improve the mother’s ability to care for her child’s health and nutritional needs.

Scope of Services

• Supplementary Nutrition- Children under the age of six, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, are recognized in the community and supplied with supplemental feeding and growth monitoring services under this section of the ICDS. 
• The Pre-school Non-formal education-This section can be considered the ICDS scheme’s backbone. All of the scheme’s services converge at Anganwadi centres in villages and rural areas, as well as urban slums. 
• Nutrition and Health Education- Ladies between the ages of 15 and 45 are covered under this component for Nutrition and Health Education. This is part of the BCC approach (Behaviour Change Communication). The long-term goal is to strengthen women’s capacities so that they can care for their own health, nutrition, and development, as well as that of their children and families.
• Immunisation- Diphtheria, polio, pertussis, measles, tuberculosis, and tetanus are among the diseases that can be prevented through vaccination. Tetanus immunizations were given to pregnant women, which lowered neonatal and maternal mortality.
• Health checkups- This includes children under the age of six, pregnant women’s antenatal care, and nursing mothers’ postnatal care. Regular health check-ups, diarrhoea treatment, deworming, weight recording, vaccines, and the delivery of inexpensive medicines are among the services provided.
• Referral Services- Any cases of disorders or diseases requiring immediate medical attention are referred to the hospital or any primary health centre, etc., during regular health check-ups. The Anganwadi worker is also trained to spot impairments in children in order to provide early intervention.

Schemes Under ICDS

• Anganwadi Services Scheme- It is a one-of-a-kind early childhood development and care program. Children aged 0-6 years, pregnant women, and breastfeeding moms are among the Scheme’s beneficiaries.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojna- It pays a cash incentive of Rs.5,000/- in three instalments directly to the Bank/Post Office Account of Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) in DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) Mode during pregnancy and lactation if the individual meets certain criteria.
• National Creche Scheme- It provides daycare for children aged 6 months to 6 years who are the children of working women. The amenities are available for seven and a half hours every day, for a total of 26 days per month.
• Scheme for Adolescent Girls- It aims to empower and improve the social standing of out-of-school girls aged 11 to 14 via nutrition, life skills, and home skills. Nutrition, iron, and folic acid supplements are among the nutritional and non-nutritional components of the programme.
• Poshan Abhiyan- It aims to minimise stunting, undernutrition, anaemia, and low birth weight newborns among young children by lowering malnutrition/undernutrition, anaemia, and focusing on adolescent girls, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers.

Combating Malnutrition

At the community level, early detection and treatment of severe acute malnutrition with ready-to-use nutrient-dense foods can help combat the problem. Early in life, especially during a woman’s pregnancy and the first two years of a child’s life, optimising nutrition gives the best possible start in life, with long-term benefits. Exclusive breastfeeding promotion, food fortification, treatment of severe acute malnutrition, hand washing for disease prevention, deworming, micronutrient supplementation, and pre-pregnancy and adolescent nutrition are all examples of DNIs.

Universal Immunisation Program

The Universal Immunisation Program (UIP) is one of the world’s largest public health initiatives, with an annual target population of 2.67 crore infants and 2.9 crore pregnant women. It is one of the most cost-effective public health treatments, and it is substantially responsible for lowering the rate of vaccine-preventable under-5 mortality.

Conclusion

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, which began on October 2, 1975, is one of the Government of India’s flagship programs and one of the world’s largest and most innovative early childhood care and development programs. This is intended to address the challenge of providing non-formal educational programs for preschoolers and breaking the vicious cycle of malnutrition, morbidity, and reduced learning capacity. The scheme benefits preschoolers, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers.