THE INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

by K.R. Venugopal

In this rights-based study of the ICDS pro-gramme sponsored by the Council for Social Development, New Delhi, Venugopal holds a mirror up to the way this flagship pro-gramme of the Government of India is faring and highlights its serious unmet expectations in implementation. These include inadequate enrollment of pregnant women, nursing mothers, children and adolescent girls who have a right to the ICDS services; grave cases of nutrition interruptions over extended periods; questionable quality of nutrition supplied; compromised growth monitoring; failure of convergence in health services including immunization and provision of crucial nutrients; grave inadequacies in training that impact adversely pre-school education and thus children's right to education and adolescent girls; and gross inadequacies of infrastructure and exploitative conditions of service affecting the effectiveness of anganwadi workers. The study addresses all these issues and makes comprehensive recommendations calling for sensitive changes in the structure of the pro-gramme. A call is made for greater involvement of the PRIs and primary stakeholders in the pro-gramme. This whistle-blowing study distinguishes itself for its readiness to pinpoint the prevalence of corruption in the pro-gramme and the practice of discrimination against the dalits in some of the anganwadi centres audited. This book should be of great interest to social auditors, human rights defenders particularly in the area of child rights and gender rights, advocates of good governance and shapers of human development policy, including those in the government. About the Author K.R. Venugopal (IAS) retired in 1995 as Secretary to the Prime Minister of India. While with the Government of Andhra Pradesh he held positions as Collector and District Magistrate and as Secretary to Government in the Departments of Planning, Social Welfare and Food. In the Governm

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