WCD, NITI Aayog examining measures to strengthen ICDS: Smriti Irani

Union Minister Smriti Irani on Monday said that Ministry of Women and Child Development, NITI Aayog and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are examining measures to strengthen the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme to ensure that targeted children are benefitted.

"The WCD, NITI Aayog and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are examining measures to strengthen the ICDS programme in order to ensure that targeted children are benefitted," Irani said at the inaugural session of Northern Regional Workshop on Best Practices and Innovations from POSHAN Abhiyaan here.

Emphasising on the problem of malnutrition, she said, "Malnutrition is not restricted to women and children belonging to the poor strata of society, many children from affluent families living in urban areas are equally afflicted with malnutrition. Proper nutrition depends on the selection of nutritious food for children, expectant mothers and lactating women."

The WCD Minister informed that nutrition levels have improved by 40 per cent between 2006 and 2016.

Being asked about the prevalence of a large number of cases of pregnancies among married girls under 18 years of age, the Union Minister said that the government is considering amendments to the Prevention of Child Marriage Act to make reporting of cases of child marriages mandatory for the concerned agencies.

The number of cases of pregnancies in girls under 18 years is as high as 21 per cent and children born from child marriages are more prone to undernourishment.

Speaking about POSHAN Abhiyan which stands for Prime Minister's Overreaching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment, she said that 2.7 lakh activities were undertaken by the WCD for 85 million beneficiaries.