POSHAN BHI, PADHAI BHI – POLITY
News: Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi: Anganwadi scheme for
early childhood care, education launched
What's in the news?
● Union Minister for Women
and Child Development Smriti Irani launched
the Centre’s flagship programme ‘Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi’, which will focus on
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) at anganwadis across the country.
Key takeaways:
● Irani
said the ministry has allocated Rs 600
crore for the training of anganwadi workers to implement the ECCE.
● The
National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) has been roped in for the
training of Anganwadi workers.
Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi:
● The
scheme will focus on Early Childhood
Care and Education (ECCE) at anganwadis across the country.
Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Women and
Child Development.
Nodal training institute:
The National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) has
been roped in for the training of Anganwadi workers.
Funding: The ministry has
allocated Rs 600 crore for the training of anganwadi workers to implement the
ECCE.
Aim:
● The
aim is not only to make anganwadi centres nutrition hubs but also
education-imparting centres.
Key features:
● The
ECCE will focus on education in the
mother tongue, as per the New Education Policy.
● The
ECCE is planned under New Education Policy and is an important part of Mission
Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0.
● Under
the scheme, the children will be provided with high-quality preschool
instruction for two hours on a daily basis.
● Under
this, the government will target children’s development in every domain
mentioned in the National Curriculum
Framework, viz., physical and motor development, cognitive development,
socio-emotional-ethical development, etc.
Go back to basics:
Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0:
● In
Financial Year (FY) 2021-22, the Government of India (GoI) restructured the
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and POSHAN (Prime Minister's
Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan into Saksham Anganwadi
and POSHAN 2.0.
Sub-schemes:
● The
restructured scheme consists of the following sub-schemes:
○ ICDS
○ POSHAN
Abhiyaan
○ Scheme
for Adolescent Girls (SAG)
○ National
Creche Scheme
● It
is a central sponsored scheme.
Objectives of Poshan 2.0:
● To
contribute to human capital development of the country.
● Address challenges of
malnutrition.
● Promote nutrition
awareness and good eating habits for sustainable
health and wellbeing.
● Address
nutrition related deficiencies through key strategies.
Anganwadis:
● Anganwadis
or a type of rural child care centre
were started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services
program to combat child hunger and malnutrition.
● These
are focal points for implementation of all the health, nutrition and early
learning initiatives under ICDS.
● Currently
Anganwadis services scheme provide 6
services:
○ Supplementary
nutrition
○ Immunisation
○ Health
check-up
○ Pre-school
non-formal education
○ Nutrition
and health education
○ Referral
services.
● These
are performed by the Anganwadi worker
(AWW).
○ AWW
is a woman (18- 44 years) from the
local village and acceptable in the local community.
○ They
are honorary workers who receive a monthly
honorarium.