Now,ICDS schemes in UP under Centre’s lens

Sources in the Women and Child Development Department of Uttar Pradesh said Sikri is accompanied by two other senior officers — Additional Secretary Sudhir Kumar and Joint Secretary Shreeranjan.

While the officers have not disclosed details,they are likely to visit rural areas in Lucknow and Rae Bareli. “We have come to see how to improve the conditions in the contact areas. We have just come and thus cannot say anything about the places that we will be visiting in the days to come,” said one of the team members.

However,sources said the focus would especially be on the Integrated Child Development Services,a flagship scheme of the Government of India which has institutional convergence with NRHM.

The target group of the scheme is pregnant and lactating mothers as well as children below six years of age.

The scheme aims at providing supplementary nutrition,immunisation,health check-up,referral services to the three target groups as well as pre-school education to children between three and six years of age and health education to women between 15 and 45 years of age.

The scheme has a common thread with NRHM because immunisation,health-check up and referral services are provided through infrastructure provided by the Health and Family Welfare Department with assistance from anganwadi workers — grass root level workers under the ICDS scheme.

Sources said large-scale anomalies have been reported in the functioning and construction of anganwadi centres in the state and the team is likely to look into these complaints.