Legacy Needs Revival
New Delhi
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday marked 50 years of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), launched during Indira Gandhi’s government, and criticised its evolution, saying it “failed” to match the promise of its name changes. Speaking on social media, he said the scheme, now part of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0, suffered from stagnant governance despite rebranding.
“ICDS has undergone rechristening and rebranding but governance hasn’t kept pace,” Ramesh wrote. He recalled that the programme, launched half a century ago, remains one of the world’s largest child welfare initiatives, with 13.96 lakh Anganwadi Centres serving over 7.65 crore children. However, he noted the scheme had not achieved the needed breakthroughs in child care and nutrition.
Ramesh cited recommendations from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Women and Child Development, chaired by Congress leader Digvijay Singh, incorporated in the party’s Nyay Patra for the 2024 elections. Key proposals include doubling Anganwadi workers’ wages, adding a worker per centre for early childhood care, revising cost norms for services, and extending day-care and crèche facilities for children over six months.
He emphasised the need to increase Anganwadi centres according to the 2025 population rather than Census 2011 figures and to provide hot cooked meals instead of take-home rations.
“This landmark scheme must be strengthened in governance and delivery,” Ramesh said, urging the government to match the scheme’s name changes with real action to secure child welfare across India.