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7 in 100 Anganwadi beneficiaries in cities
Why is it in the news?
According to government data, for every 100 anganwadi beneficiaries in the country, only seven are in urban areas.
More in the news
- Primary cause behind low beneficiaries in urban areas:
(1) A severe lack of anganwadis in cities, leading to poor coverage of the government’s flagship programme in early childhood development.
(2) There are as many as 13.79 lakh anganwadis operational across the country.
(3) Of those anganwadis that can be monitored online, 1.09 lakh centres are in urban areas and the remaining 8.22 lakh were in rural areas of the country.
- Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS):
(1) The scheme by the Women and Child Development Ministry provides a package of six services.
(2) The services include supplementary nutrition; pre-school non-formal education; immunisation, nutrition and health education; as well as referral services.
(3) The aim of the scheme is to reduce infant mortality and child malnutrition.
(4) Beneficiaries include children in the age group of six months to six years, and pregnant women and lactating mothers.
- Data:
(1) As per Census 2011, 32% of India’s 1.2 billion population live in cities.
(2) A Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 2016-18, found that 35% of children under five were stunted and 17% were wasted.
(3) It also said 22% of children in the age group of 5-9 years were stunted and 23% were thin for their age.
(4) About 20% of those in the 10-19 years age group were thin for their age.
Source
The Hindu.