Year End Review :Ministry of Women & Child Development
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Year End Review
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The Union Ministry of Women and Child launched several
new initiatives and consolidated on those of the previous two years during the
year 2016. Some of the key initiatives this year included
launch of POCSO e-Box, Mahila e-Haat,
passage of Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Rajya
Sabha, expansion of BBBP scheme, Juvenile Justice
(Care & Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016, expansion of one stop
centre scheme, launch of SMPV scheme on ground, draft anti-trafficking bill,
draft national policy for women, training of women panchayats,
greater engagement with media to generate awareness among others.
Expansion
of One Stop Centres Scheme:
One Stop
Centre at Raipur, Chattisgarh)
The Ministry has launched the Scheme for setting up One
Stop Centres to facilitate access to an integrated range of services including
medical, legal, and psychological support to women affected by violence to be
funded through Nirbhaya Fund.
In this year, there was a major thrust on
stepping up the setting of these centres. Funds were sanctioned to 33 States/UTs during the year
2015-16 for establishment of One Stop Centre while 150 additional Centres have
been taken up in second phase during 2016-17 utilising Nirbhaya
Fund.
As a result, 51 One Stop Centres have become
operational. It has been envisaged that 100 OSCs will become operational by
January end 2017, 150 OSCs by March end, 2017 and 186 OSCs by July end, 2017.
The One Stop Centres will be integrated with 181 and other existing helplines.
Expansion of flagship scheme ‘Beti Bachao Beti
Padhao’:
BBBP is one of the flagship
programmes of the Government to address the declining Child Sex Ratio and
related issues of disempowerment of women on a life- cycle continuum. This
programme was launched in 100 critical districts with the lowest child sex
ratio on 22nd January, 2015 at Panipat by
the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The scheme has been
successful in establishing the improvement in Child Sex Ratio as a National
Agenda. Given the criticality of the issue, this initiative has been this year
expanded to 61 additional districts across the 11 States/UTs.
The specific objectives of the
scheme include preventing gender biased sex selective elimination; ensuring
survival and protection of the girl child and ensuring education and
participation of the girl child.
Since its inception in January 2015, this programme
has resulted in hundreds of local level innovative initiatives to promote the
girl child. Some of these district/state level initiatives include
installing digital Guddi Gudda
Display Boards in offices and public places in Jalgaon
district, Maharashtra; multi-sectoral interventions
by Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu; a social
assistance scheme titled Ladli Beti
for new born girl child born on or after 01st April 2015 by Jammu and Kashmir;
cash reward of Rs. 1 lakh for whistle blowers
informing about illegal sex selection announced by Haryana; Shaurya
Dals and Har Ghar Dastak initiative in
Madhya Pradesh; local champions and brand
ambassadors identified in Gomati
district, Tripura, Jhunjhunu
district, Rajasthan; Ambassador of Girl Child launched by Nagaland;
recognizing girl achievers in the community in Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh and
Tripura among others.
With concerted efforts at national, state and district
levels, the preliminary reports for 100 districts indicate that for the time
period between April-March 2014-15 & 2015-16, an increasing trend in Sex
Ratio at Birth (SRB) is visible in 58% of the BBBP districts; 69 districts have
reported progress in the first trimester registration against the reported ANC
registrations during the previous year; and status of institutional
deliveries have improved in 80 districts against the total reported deliveries
in comparison to the previous year.
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(Increasing
trend in Sex Ratio at Birth)
New
Passport Rules
In a major
progressive move, on insistence of WCD Ministry, the Ministry of External
Affairs has issued new Passport Rules (https://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?)
on 23rd December , 2016 for the
benefit of single/divorced mothers and their children as well as
adopted/adoptable children as follows:
·
The online passport application form now requires the
applicant to provide the name of father or mother or legal guardian, i.e., only
one parent and not both. This would enable single parents to apply for
passports for their children and to also issue passports where the name of
either the father or the mother is not required to be printed at the request of
the applicant.
·
The Passport application
form does not require the applicant to provide the name of her/his spouse in
case of separated or divorced persons. Such applicants for passports would not
be required to provide even the Divorce Decree.
·
Orphaned children who do not
have any proof of DOB such as Birth Certificate or the Matriculation
Certificate or the declaratory Court order, may now submit a declaration given
by the Head of the Orphanage/Child Care Home on their official letter head of
the organization confirming the DOB of the applicant.
·
In case of children not born
out of wedlock, the applicant for the passport of such children should submit
only Annexure G while submitting the passport application.
·
In case of issue of passport
to in-country domestically adopted children,
submission of the registered adoption deed would no longer be required. In the
absence of any deed to this effect, the passport applicant may give a
declaration on a plain paper confirming the adoption.
Operationalisation of Gender Champions Scheme:
The initiative of Gender Champions is being
implemented through educational institutions for sensitizing young students and
for creating awareness on laws, legislations, legal rights and life skills
education. The Gender Champion Guidelines developed by WCD Ministry are being operationalized in collaboration with the Ministry of Human
Resource Development.
A Training Module for Gender Champions has been
developed for adoption by educational institutes. As per report of the
UGC, 100 Universities and 145 colleges have initiated implementation of Gender
Champions.
On
ground operationalization of Mahila
Police Volunteer Scheme:
The Guidelines of Mahila
Police Volunteers have been developed by WCD Ministry in collaboration with
Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), Ministry of Home
Affairs. The broad mandate of MPVs is to report to authorities/police the
incidences of violence against women such as domestic violence, child marriage,
dowry harassment and violence faced by women in public spaces. Home Ministry
has given its consent for implementation of the scheme in April, 2016.
Haryana has become the first state to operationalise the Mahila Police
Volunteer scheme. It was launched jointly by the WCD Ministry and Haryana
Government at Karnal on 14th December,
2016 for the districts of Karnal and Mahendragarh in Haryana.
Other states are expected to follow the same soon.
Progress
on 33% Reservation for women in police force:
The WCD Ministry has been working along with the
Ministry of Home Affairs to improve overall
police responsiveness to gender sensitive cases and to bring visibility
to more women and strengthen gender sensitivity in police force.
An Advisory has been issued to all State Governments to
increase representation of women in police to 33% of the total strength.
As a result, reservation has been extended in 13
States/Union Territories of Bihar, Gujarat, Odisha,
Nagaland, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana,
Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep & Dadra Nagar Haveli, NCT of Delhi. The Process has been initiated in 9 more
States/UTs (Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Mizoram, Punjab, Kerala,
Haryana, Uttarakhand and West Bengal).
Panic
Button on Mobile Phones:
The Ministry of Women and Child Development had taken
up the issue of installation of physical panic button on mobile phones as one
of the initiatives since June 2014. Based on extensive stakeholder
consultations initiated by WCD Ministry, the ‘Panic Button and Global Positioning
System in Mobile Phone Handsets Rules 2016’ have been notified by the
Department of Telecommunications.
Under these rules, all new feature phones will have
the facility of panic button configured to the numeric key 5 or 9 and all smart
phones will have the panic button configured to three times short
pressing of the On-off button from the new year onwards. Further, all new
mobile phones will be required to have the facility of identifying the location
through satellite based GPS
Guidelines
for Matrimonial Websites issued:
In view of the increasing number of crimes committed
against women on account of information shared on the matrimonial websites, it
was decided in consultation with Department of Electronics and Information
Technology (DeITY), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
and service providers to look into the issue and to put in place a regulatory
framework in order to check this misuse. The Ministry has already carried out
extensive work for the preparation of the due diligence guidelines for the
matrimonial websites and prepared a concept paper detailing extent of the
problem, existing safeguards, existing legal remedies, etc., which has been
circulated to stakeholders concerned. Based on extensive stakeholders
consultation initiated by WCD Ministry, an advisory on functioning of
Matrimonial Website was issued by DeITY on 6th
June, 2016(http://wcd.nic.in/acts/advisory-functioning-matrimonial-websites) .
Implementation
of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013:
After ensuring the
establishment of Internal Complaints Committees in all Ministries/Departments
of Government of India, the Ministry of WCD this year set up an
Inter-Ministerial Committee headed by a senior official of the WCD Ministry to
oversee the implementation of the Act in the Government. The
inter ministerial committee will create a panel of resource persons from
which ICCs can take the external members. The training programmes of all
services will have a module on the Act and DoPT will
issue necessary instructions for this.
(Handbook on
Sexual Harassment of Workplace Act, 2013)
Based on the meeting held by WCD Minister, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, the DoPT has issued a notification dated December 22, 2016
outlining the following:
·
Brief details of the
implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act including the
number of cases received and disposed shall form a part of the Annual Report of
all ministries/ departments and authorities there under.
·
The enquiry of cases must be completed within 30 days and
under any circumstances within 90 days from the date of the complaint.
·
The ministries/ departments etc. have to keep a watch on
the complainant so as to ensure that she is not victimized in any manner
because of her having filed the complaint. The aggrieved woman has been given
further option to send representation to the Secretary or head of the
organization in case she feels that she is being victimized because of her
complaint. The concerned authority will be required to dispose of this
complaint within 15 days.
·
All ministries/ departments etc. are now required to
submit a monthly progress report to the Ministry of Women and Child Development
so that the progress can be monitored.
The Ministry has already released a Handbook on the
Act for ready reference. It is also available on www.wcd.nic.in.
Women
Helpline:
A schematic proposal to enable the universalization
of a Helpline specifically for women with a common number across the country has
been approved. This Helpline will be linked with One Stop Centres being
established by the Ministry of Women & Child Development. The
Department of Telecommunication, Government of India, has allocated short code
181 to all States/UTs which is already being used by
some States/UTs such as Delhi, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh as Women Helpline. So
far, Women Helplines have been operational in 18
States/UTs.
National
Policy on Women:
The draft National Policy for Women, 2016, has been
released by the Minister, WCD and is under finalization. The policy has been
revised after 15 years and is expected to guide Government action on women’s
issues over the next 15-20 years. Draft National Policy for Women 2016
prescribes the operational strategies for implementation of the policy. These
include, framing of Action Plans at the national, State and local level;
strengthening gender institutional architecture, enacting new legislations and
reviewing/ harmonizing legislations, engaging with stakeholders for advocacy and
awareness generation, strengthening institutionalization of gender
budgeting and creating an effective gender based data base. The policy looks into the entire life-cycle
continuum of women’s issues and encompasses a wide spectrum ranging from
discrimination against women to the expectations of new emerging inspirational
woman.
Utilisation
of Nirbhaya Fund:
The Ministry of Finance, Government of India set up a
dedicated fund called Nirbhaya Fund for
implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security for
women in the country. The corpus transferred to the Public Account for the Nirbhaya fund is Rs. 2000.00 Cr.
In 2015, keeping in mind the need to have schematic
interventions and proper mechanism for handholding of women in distress, 2
schemes i.e. One Stop Centre amounting to Rs. 18.58 Cr. and Universalisation of Women Helpline amounting
to Rs. 69.49 Cr. were initiated by Ministry of Women and Child
Development. The OSC Scheme has been expanded to 150 additional locations
in July 2016. 51 centres have already become operational.
Under Nirbhaya
Fund, 13 proposals of different Ministries/States have been appraised and
recommended amounting to Rs. 2177.27
Cr. These proposal/projects are at different stages of implementation.
The procedure for release of funds from the Nirbhaya
Fund has also been simplified.
Draft
Bill on Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection & Rehabilitation)
Bill, 2016:
WCD
Ministry in consultation with the line Ministries/Departments/State Govt./CSOs and domain experts has prepared a draft Trafficking
of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016 which is in
its final stages of finalization. The draft Bill proposes to tackle different
aspects of trafficking by creating a strong legal, economic and social
environment by putting in place dedicated institutional mechanisms at District,
State & Central Level.
Training
for Women Heads of Panchayats:
The National Commission for Women (NCW) of WCD
Ministry has developed training modules to build capacity of elected women panchayat representatives. In May, 2016, the Commission
undertook its first initiative in this regard at Jhalawar
District, Rajasthan. More than 40 elected women representatives participated in
the workshops aiming at empowering and developing their capacities. The
training will be expanded in the states of Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Haryana
from January, 2017 onwards.
Village
facilitation & Convergence Service:
Village Facilitation & Convergence Service (VCFS) aims
to link women in need with the schemes/programs being implemented by
Central/State Government impacting the lives of women such as BBBP, Sabla, One Stop Centre, Jan Dhan Yojana, Swach
Bharat etc. The services under VCFS are provided by Village Coordinators at the
Gram Panchayat level. VCFS Scheme has been approved
for 161 BBBP districts and 200 high burden districts across the country. This
will help to educate women about government schemes and their benefits as well
and enhance community participation in implementation of schemes and programmes
meant for women.
Launch
of Mahila e-Haat :
The Ministry of Women & Child Development launched
Mahila e-Haat(http://mahilaehaat-rmk.gov.in/),
a unique direct online digital marketing platform for women
entrepreneurs/SHGs/NGOs in March 2016. It also aims at financial inclusion and
economic empowerment of women. Mahila e-Haat facilitates direct contact between the vendor and
buyer. The unique features of Mahila E-haat not available on other e-commerce portals are (a)
Sharing of contact details of vendors b) E-learning services (c) Pitara (Hamari Baat) conversations (d) Services.
Mahila e-Haat is a bilingual portal and has received
over 14.50 lakh visitors/hits.
(Products for sale on Mahila
e-Haat Portal)
Women entrepreneurs/SHGs/NGOs from 22 states are
showcasing approximately 1800 products/services. Today, there are 23000 SHGs
registered on Mahila e-Haat
with 3 lakh beneficiaries directly and indirectly.
Women entrepreneurs/ SHGs/NGOs as vendors on Mahila
e-Haat portal in 6 months have transacted business of
over Rs. 20 lakh which is a substantial amount
keeping in mind the micro nature of the individual businesses. Major PSUs,
IRCTC, Nationalised Banks like SBI, CBI, etc have given a link to Mahila e-Haat on their websites
increasing visibility.
Mahila e-Haat received the SKOCH
GOLD Award on 9th September 2016. It was also adjudged as one of the Top 100
Projects in India for the year 2016 and was awarded SKOCH Order-of-Merit Award.
Launch of POSCO e-Bwas launched in August 2016 and is a simple and
easy to use facility for children or any adult to register complaints of child
sexual abuse or harassment. It is a direct online reporting mechanism
where each complaint is handled with sensitivity and anonymity to provide
optimum protection to these children.
(POCSO e-Box)
POCSO e- Box has been
awarded the Skoch Silver and Skoch
Order-of Merit award out of 3000 participants and was considered among the top
30 entries.
Extension
of Maternity Leave:
The WCD Ministry has been working to extend the
maternity leave period for working women to enable them to provide exclusive breastfeeding
to children for six months after child birth. The Ministry of Labour &
Employment has carried out suitable amendments in the Act, which are as
follows:
1.
Enhancement of maternity
leave under Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, from existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
2.
Extension of maternity
benefit to adopting mothers and commissioning mothers.
3.
Establishment of crèche
facility within the office/factory premises.
The Amendment Bill has already been passed by Rajya Sabha , clearing the first step towards achieving the goal. The
Amendments are likely to be introduced and passed in Lok
Sabha soon.
Framing
of the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016 (JJ Model Rules, 2016):
The landmark Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Act, 2015 came into effect from 15th January, 2016.This
Law strengthens provisions for both children in need of care and protection and
children in conflict with law. Under Section 15, special provisions have been
made to tackle child offenders committing heinous offences in the age group of
16-18 years.
(WCD Minister
releasing JJ Rule, 2016)
The Juvenile
Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016 (JJ Model Rules,
2016) have been notified and published in the Gazette of India. The JJ Model Rules, 2016, are based on the
philosophy that children need to be reformed and reintegrated into society.
Best interest of the child along with child-friendly procedures is incorporated
across the provisions and is the primary consideration.
SABLA-Scheme
for Adolescent Girls:
Scheme for Adolescent Girls, Sabla,
a Centrally- sponsored scheme being implemented in 205
districts selected from all the States/UTs. Sabla
aims at the all—round development of adolescent girls of 11-18 years (with a
focus on all out-of-school adolescent girls) by making them self reliant by
improving their health and nutrition status, promoting awareness about health,
hygiene, nutrition, Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health, family and child
care and facilitating access to public services through various interventions
such as guidance & counselling and imparting vocational training for girls
aged 16 and above. It also aims towards mainstreaming out of school adolescent
girls into formal/non formal education.
The details of funds
released, utilized and beneficiaries covered during 2015-16 and current year
under SABLA scheme is as under:-
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Year
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Total
Funds (Rs. in lakh)
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Nutrition
Beneficiaries
(in
lakh)
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Released
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Utilized
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2015-16
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47040.57
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49479.06
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110.03
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2016-17
(as on 30.06.2016)
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39516.75
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13870.90
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54.50
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Initiative
with Railways on Missing Children :
The
Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Railways have framed
path-breaking Special Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be implemented by Railways
for runaway, abandoned, kidnapped, trafficked children via medium of railways.
Child Helpline Centres were initially set up at 20 major Railway Stations for
rehabilitation and rescue of such children. Additional 15 stations have been
approved this year for providing similar
facilities and 1000 stations across the country will be covered. Awareness
campaign via posters in railway coaches was launched in November, 2015. Two lakh posters have been released and
distributed in trains this year. All the 55000 coaches are being covered during
2016-17. The Posters caution the passengers about the children around them who
may need protection.
(Poster for Railway Coaches)
In a first of its kind, Kiosks with Child Helpline have been
set up at key 24 railway stations where
the identified children are brought for temporary stay before they are restored
to their parents or are sent to a chidren’s
home. Continuous announcements are made for passengers to keep a lookout for
such children. Assistance has been provided to more than 11,000 children till
date.
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Expansion
of Childline :
Childline is a nation-wide initiative for rescuing and
assisting children in distress conditions. In the last two years, Childline (1098) has been extended to 409 districts through
a network of 778 local NGO partners. It is available in 186 Rural (districts)
and 223 Urban (cities) locations with 5 Centralised Contact centres at Mumbai,
Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Gurgaon.
With the expanded reach,
CHILDLINE has been able to help lakhs of children and
restore them to their families. It makes nearly 2.50 lakh
direct Interventions/ year.
Adoption
& Mandatory Registration of all Child Care Institutions:
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Act, 2015 which has come into effect this year requires all Child
Care Institutions (CCIs) whether run by State Government or by voluntary or
non-governmental organisations to be registered under the Act. Accordingly,
Central Adoption Resource Authority(CARA) of WCD
Ministry has carried out online registration of 31 State Adoption
Resource Agencies, 600 District Child Protection Units, 431
Specialized Adoption Agencies and uploaded 12038 Home Study Reports on
Web Platform.
In first of its kind, in January, 2016, M/o WCD
initiated review of Child Care Institutions across the country through Childline India Foundation and National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights to review their legal status and standards of care
maintained as per the Juvenile Justice Act. Till date, review has already
completed in 28 states and 7 UTs. 9605 Homes covered across 675 districts.
2,630 Homes found to be un-registered.
Foster
Care Guidelines:
A new
system of providing foster care to children has been put in place and new
guidelines have been issued. This permits children to be looked after by
individual families as foster parents thereby providing a much better standard
of care and protection than what these children get in the child care
institutions. Foster Family is selected, approved and supervised by Child
Welfare Committee (CWC). Model Guidelines for Foster Care, 2016, have been
formulated by Central Government and placed in public domain on 11th November,
2016.
Aadhar Cards for Children in Child Care Institutions:
Under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
Scheme, Aadhar enrolment of children below 5 years
has been taken up with States/ Union Territories. As per information available
from UIDAI, Aadhaar saturation among children below 5
years of age is 30.7% as on 15.11.2016. States/ UTs have been requested to
organise special enrolment camps at Anganwadi centres
(AWCs) twice a year in coordination with the Registrar/ Enrolment Agencies
active in States/ UTs for enrolment of children below 5 years under Aadhar.
This will help the children get a permanent identity
for future and also help them to access various Government services after they
grow up.
Expanding
Anganwadi Infrastructure:
The WCD Ministry will construct four lakh anganwadi buildings by 2019
under MGNREGS in convergence with Ministry of Rural development.
In 2015-16, 29,941 units were approved and Rs. 182.60 Crore released for construction of anganwadi
buildings. In 2016-17, 63531 Units were approved and Rs. 740.07 Crore have already been released.
(Anganwadi Centre at Chainpura, Sunda)
The ICDS
scheme today operates through a network of 7073 fully operational Projects and
13.49 lakh Anganwadi
Centres as on 30.09.2016. The services are currently being provided to 1010.56 lakh beneficiaries of which 820.65 lakh
are children under six years of age and 189.91 lakh are P&L Mothers. 345.44 lakh
children of 3-6 years are provided pre-school education.
National
Nutrition Mission:
National Nutrition Mission (NNM) is proposed to
achieve improvement in nutritional status of children (0-6 years), adolescent
girls and pregnant & lactating mothers in a time bound manner over a period
of three years with the objectives of preventing & reducing under-nutrition
in children (0-3 years); reducing the prevalence of anaemia among young
children (6-59 months); reducing the prevalence of anaemia among women and
adolescent girls (15-49 years) and reducing low birth weight. The proposed NNM
would provide for real time IT based monitoring of beneficiaries and service
delivery besides bringing grass root level convergence of interventions of
MWCD, MoHFW, MDWS, MoRD & PRIs etc.
Direct
Benefit Transfer of Anganwadi Worker Remuneration:
A system for Direct Benefit Transfer of Anganwadi Worker Remuneration has started from April, 2016,
in some States/UTs to ensure efficiency in delivery process, greater inclusion,
particularly, financial inclusion, de-duplication & reduction of
fraud/curbing leakages. All States/UTs will be covered under this gradually. In
the National Conference of State/UT Secretaries held on 13.07.2016, remaining
States/UTs have assured to implement the Direct Benefit Transfer of honorarium
of ICDS functionaries (AWWs/AWHs) by December, 2016. This will benefit as well
as motivate about lakhs of women workers engaged in
implementing the ICDS Scheme.
Restructuring
of ICDS Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP):
M/o WCD, with a view to bridge the gaps in the ICDS
Service Delivery, is implementing International Development Association (IDA)
assisted ICDS Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP),
in 162 high burden districts of 8 States in the country covering 3.68 lakh Aanganwadi Centers. The Project was restructured on 29th September,
2015, with a major impetus on ICT solution for better service delivery in ICDS
and behaviour change for nutritional outcomes.
The major
achievements of restructured ISSNIP are as follows:
1. Entering a
Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation:
The Ministry signed an MoC on
20th May, 2016, with Gates Foundation to provide
technical support at the National and State level for strengthening
the delivery of nutrition goals. The Government has a significant focus on
improving the health and lives of women and children in India, by strengthening
nutrition programs in order to promote their
holistic development. In sync with this focus, the four priority areas of work
as part of this MoC include:
a)
Digitisation of Anganwadi centres by Development and
deployment of ICT solutions for improving and strengthening ICDS
Service Delivery System.
b)
Support MWCD in developing a shared national communications campaign for
maternal and child nutrition among target populations.
c)
Technical Support Unit at the national and state level for strengthening their
capacities to deliver nutrition especially during pre-conception, pregnancy and
first two years of life.
d)
Technical support and Knowledge management support to strengthen human resource
capabilities at various levels in order to deliver effective nutrition
interventions.
2.
Launching ICT-enabled Real Time Monitoring (ICT-RTM) of ICDS:
ISSNIP includes ICT-enabled Real Time Monitoring (ICT-RTM) of ICDS as a core
activity. ICT-RTM are to be driven by a customized Common Application Software (ICDS-
CAS), customized Common Application Software developed by Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation (BMGF). ICT-RTM was launched by M/oWCD on 25th May, 2016. ICT-RTM would specifically help
strengthen the ICDS capacity to deliver nutrition services.
3.
Communities Based Events:
Communities based events are organised on monthly basis for all the 3.68 lakh Aanganwadis across 8 ISSNIP
States. It aims to bring change in nutrition behaviour of community for better
nutritional outcomes. The main events include the Godh
Bharai- the commemoration of motherhood to identify
the pregnancy and bring under focus of ICDS and Annaprasan- the initiation of complementary feeding for
children attaining 6 months of age.
4.
Capacity Building of ICDS functionaries in Incremental Learning Approach: This activity involves the capacity building and
strengthening of ICDS functionaries in a cascade manner through which the front
line functionaries and workers are trained in identified thematic areas on a
monthly basis. ISSNIP has till now conducted trainings in 6 modules in 5 States
viz. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and in
3 modules in States of Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh
Comprehensive
Regulation on Micro nutrient Fortification:
Food Fortification has significant role in reducing
Micronutrient deficiency related disorders.WCD Ministry led the initiative with
the Ministry of Consumer Affairs & Public Distribution and Ministry of
Health & Family Welfare in formulating Comprehensive Regulation on
Micronutrient Fortification involving all Stakeholders.
Comprehensive regulations on fortification of food
articles, namely "Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods)
Regulation, 2016, were released by Food Safety & Standards Authority of
India, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. The Logo for fortified food
launched during National Summit on Fortification of Foods (16-17 October,
2016).
The ‘Group of Secretaries on Education & Health
regarding food fortification’ has recommended the following:
· Double Fortification of Salt with Iodine & Iron.
· Fortification of Refined Oil and Milk with Vitamin-A
& D.
· Fortification of Rice with Iron & Folic Acid.
· Proposal to introduce Fortified Food items in Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
Scheme , Mid Day Meal (MDM) & Public Distribution System (PDS) in a
phased manner.
Establishment
of Food Testing Laboratories:
One Central Laboratory at Faridabad and three Regional
Laboratories in Mumbai, Chennai & Kolkata to test the quality of food
provided under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme and
other nutrition related programmes are being set up. Land has
been acquired for all four laboratories and MoU
signed with NBCC for construction of laboratories.
Women
of India Exhibitions:
The Initiative was started in November 2014 to link
producers of organic products directly to the market. Three such exhibitions
have already been held in Delhi, and many more such exhibitions are proposed to
be organised in centres outside Delhi.
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|
Adopt
a Home(Child Care Institution) programme:
A programme to enhance the physical, emotional,
intellectual, social and moral development of children staying in the Children’s
Homes with assistance from Corporate sector/ business houses under
Corporate Social Responsibility
The Corporate Houses are being requested to adopt a
Children Home and support in Upgrading physical infrastructure, support to
healthcare in children home, as well as sponsoring higher education of
children. The Guidelines for the same were issued in April, 2016. The
supporters of the Programme to get recognition certificate for their
contribution.
National
Children’s Fund:
National
Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), an autonomous
body under Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has revised its
guidelines on 24th June, 2016 to provide scholarship to a child
who is orphan or destitute and is residing in a Child Care Institution (CCI)
and has done well in his/her school by securing atleast
70% marks. The scholarship is provided through National Children’s Fund,
a trust created by WCD Ministry and managed by NIPCCD.
All
India Women Journalists’ Workshops:
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The Ministry of Women and Child Development organised
the first ever All India Women Journalists’ Workshop with participation from
nearly 250 journalists. The conference was held to empower the women
journalists with correct and timely information since journalists are a big
social multiplier and can become agents of social change.
In view the success of the first workshop, it was
followed by a second ever All India Women Journalists’ Workshop in which more
than 100 journalists participated. Women journalists from print, electronic and
online media from the length and breadth of the country including small and
regional media organizations participated in the conferences.
Engagement
on Social Media
The Ministry is active on social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube with followers numbering in lakhs. Social media is being used as a medium to spread
awareness among the general public on issues concerning women and children,
aiding positive attitude and behaviour change. This medium is also being
leveraged to disseminate information on the various schemes and programmes of
the government so as to increase citizen engagement.
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In response to harassment of women in cyber
space, the Ministry recently launched a campaign wherein such complaints could
be made directly to the social media handles of the Ministry, with assured
responses. The Ministry is also running a grievance redressal
cell which registers and responds to direct complaints via email from women and
children across the country. The complaints cell has a dedicated email id i.e.
complaint-to report complaints
relating to online trolling/harassment with effect from July, 2016. So far, 50
complaints have been received through Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, etc.
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