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The Cabinet has cleared the first phase ofexpansion of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme as per thecommitment of Government o universalize the ICDS, as enunciated in the NationalCommon Minimum Programme (NCMP).
The new proposal is tosanction 467 additional ICDS projects and 1,99,168 Anganwadi Centres. With the addition of 467 projects, the totalnumber of projects will increase to 6119 and that of AWCs to 9.43 lakhs acrossthe country. The expansion of ICDS isestimated to cost Rs. 476.05 crore per annum.
At present the Schemecovers 393.58 lakh children and 80.61 lakh pregnant/ lactating women. With the expansion, about 1.05 croreadditional children and about 24 lakh additional pregnant/lactating women areexpected to benefited under the Scheme. Expansion of the Schemewould also lead to employment of 1.88 lakh women as Anganwadi Workers and equalnumber of women as Anganwadi Helpers as “honorary” community workers at thegrassroots level. Besides, it would create about 10,000 additional regular jobsunder the State Governments.
Kishori Shakti Yojana(KSY), which aims at breaking the inter-generational life cycle of nutritionaland gender disadvantage and providing a supportive environment for selfdevelopment, is at present being implemented in 2000 blocks will be extended toall ICDS projects. The expansion of thescheme is estimated to Rs. 45.30 crore per annum.
In addition theGovernment proposes to construct Anganwadi Centres in the North Eastern States @Rs. 1.75 lakhs per center. The rent ofAnganwadi Centres located in rented premises in rural/tribal projects has alsobeen raised from Rs. 50 to Rs. 100/- p.m. and that of urban projects from Rs.300 to Rs. 500/- p.m..
SK:SPS:NC
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