The government today approved an increase in cost norms for supplementary nutrition provided at anganwadi centres to children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
The Union Cabinet approved an increase in the per day cost per beneficiary from Rs 6 to Rs 8 for children between six months to three years and from Rs 7 to Rs 9.5 for pregnant women and lactating mothers. For severely malnourished children, the cost has been revised from Rs 9 to Rs 12.5.
Under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), children between six months to three years are entitled to a morning snack (in form of milk/banana/seasonal fruits or micronutrient fortified food) as well as a hot-cooked meal at an anganwadi centre, while pregnant women, lactating mothers and severely malnourished children who can't walk to the centre are entitled to take home ration.
There is also a revision in cost norms for nutrition provided to adolescent girls between the age of 11-14 years from Rs 5 to Rs 9.5 under the Sabla scheme.
The scheme targets adolescent girls and provides them nutrition as well as education in life skills.
"The rates were fixed in 2012 but since then the consumer price index has increased. The revision in costs will make it easier for us to provide food as the prices of raw materials have increased," Rakesh Srivastava, secretary, women and child development ministry said at a press briefing.
The revision of rates will lead to an additional expenditure of Rs 12,000 crore over the next three years.
The Cabinet also approved an annual cost indexation for increase in rates in the future.
Anganwadi centres are part of the ICDS and provide a package of six services--supplementary nutrition, referral services, immunisation, health check-up, pre-school non-formal education and health and nutrition education.
The services are currently being provided at 13.55 lakh centres across the country. There are 983.42 lakh beneficiaries of which nearly 800.73 lakh are children under age of six years and 182.69 lakh are pregnant women and lactating mothers.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) is also likely to come out with nutrition guidelines that will lay out the ideal composition for a meal to be served at anganwadis or schools as midday meal.
Government think-tank, Niti Aayog, has recommended that pilot projects be initiated to replace take home ration with cash transfers in order to check pilferage.
A WCD official said that there is a proposal to start a a pilot project across 100 districts.
However, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi is opposed to the idea and has said that cash transfers "don't make sense".
She has also proposed that hot meals be substituted by nutrient packets which are calorie dense.
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