The position of women has been always held high in the Indian civilization. The women-power has been hailed as ‘Matri Shakti’ and the existence of the womenfolk used to be celebrated as an essential half of spiritual enlightenment. Therefore, it is not without reason that even after Independence, the Government has been laying continuous emphasis on the general development of the women and especially their empowerment including adolescent girls and the children in all spheres of life.

The major task to cater to the welfare of the women, their holistic empowerment especially of the marginalized sections primarily rests with the Ministry of Women and Child Development. On this backdrop it is worth mentioning here that under the UPA dispensation, the Ministry has taken the giant and vital steps towards launching two new schemes. They are-Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (SALA) to address the multidimensional issues of the adolescent girls in the age group of 11-18 years. According to the programmes drawn by the Ministry, initially the programme will be implemented in 200 districts across the country.

Another such significant initiative undertaken by the Ministry is the Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) – Conditional Maternity scheme. Initially to be implemented in 52 districts, the scheme aims to improve the health and nutrition status of pregnant and lactating women. The scheme will also create opportunities for pregnant women to associate themselves with the Anganwadis and the health centres.

The Rajiv Gandhi SABLA was approved by the Government on  August 16, 2010 and formally launched on  November 19. The Anganwadi centres will be the focal point for the delivery of the services and are meant to implemented through States and UT’s with 100 per cent financial assistance from the Government at the center. SABLA aims at empowering adolescent girls for 11-18 years by improvement in their nutritional and health status and upgrading home skills, life skills and vocational skills.

Similarly, in October 2010, the Ministry of Women and Child Development,  approved the Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) – Conditional Maternity schemes.

The scheme envisages providing cash directly to pregnant and lactating women during pregnancy stage as it attempts to partly compensate for wage loss to the carrying mothers. The essential objectives of the scheme are to improve the health and nutrition status of pregnant and lactating women and the infants. Further, pregnant women of 19 years of age and above for first two live births are entitled for benefits under the scheme. The beneficiaries will be paid Rs 4000 in three installments till the child attains the age of six months on fulfilling specific conditions related to maternal and child health. The scheme also makes its clear that the Anganwadi worker and Anganwadi helper would receive an incentive of Rs 200 and Rs 100 respectively per pregnant and lactating woman after all the due cash transfers to the beneficiary are complete. Official sources say an allocation of Rs 190 crore was made for the financial year 2010-11 and an estimated 13 lakh beneficiaries are expected to be covered under the scheme.

Besides these schemes, the Ministry has been undertaking several long-term and time-tested projects to provide social and economic means of support including shelter, counseling, vocational training and financial assistance to the targeted women and children. Among all the major schemes, the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) is the flagship programme, which was launched in 1975 with the principal objectives to improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age group of 0-6 years.

The scheme among other things also aims to enhance the capability of the mother of a child to look after the normal health and nutritional needs of the child through proper nutrition and health education.

The concept of providing a package of services is based primarily on the consideration that the overall impact will be much larger if the different services develop in an integrated manner as the efficacy of a particular service depends upon the support it receives from related services.

It is in this context, ICDS ensures convergence between the Ministries of Women and Child Development and Health, Sanitation and drinking water, Rural Development and the Department of Elementary Education.

In 2009, the Government brought in a few changes in the funding pattern and decided to introduce the concept of cost sharing ratio between the centre and the state with effect from 1st April, 2009. It would be 90:10 basis for all the North Eastern States and 50: 50 basis for other states.

In the recent times there has been also a significant increase in the Central Government’s spending on the implementation of the scheme. As against the allocation of Rs 10391.75 crore for the 10th plan, the fund has been raised to Rs 444,000 crore in the 11th Plan.

For ICDS, the Government  has been also partnering with several international partners. These include World Bank, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and also the World Food Programme.

Over the years, it has been  appreciated by the Government that early childhood care and education at the pre-school stage is increasingly being acknowledged globally as a critical investment for enhancing school readiness. With an overall supportive and enabling policy environment in place, the Ministry is now embarking on the next step of developing a time bound plan of action in partnership with public, private and voluntary sectors at both the national and the state levels to translate the policy directives into field realities.

In short, the Ministry is in constant move. And by the new initiatives and upgrading the already existing ones, it is only trying to break the new frontiers in the realm of comprehensive development of the targeted women and the children. (PIB Features)