• India’s high prevalence of stunting, wasting, and anaemia continues to pose public health risks for children and women.
• To tackle this, India needs to strengthen its current social sector programmes, such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).
• The ICDS addresses non-formal preschool education, targets children aged 0 to 6 years, pregnant women, and lactating mothers, and ends the cycle of malnutrition, morbidity, and mortality.

Impact of Early Childhood Interventions on Human Capital

• Empirical research shows a link between childhood poverty, malnutrition, and insufficient stimulation and later cognitive and economic challenges.
• Studies have shown that early childhood interventions focusing on nutrition, education, and health can significantly improve human capital, particularly in developing countries.
• A study published in World Development discovered that the ICDS had a positive impact on cognitive achievement, especially for girls and those from families with low incomes.
• Another peer-reviewed study published in The University of Chicago Press Journals discovered that children exposed to ICDS during their first three years of life completed 0.1-0.3 grades more than those who were not.
• Adolescents aged 13-18 born in villages with proper ICDS implementation had a 7.8% higher likelihood of school enrollment and completed an average of 0.8 more grades than their peers who did not have access to the ICDS.
• While we applaud ICDS''s remarkable progress, we must also recognise the urgent need for a thorough reassessment of our approaches.
• Despite four decades of unwavering effort, the ICDS continues to face the herculean task of improving nutrition and health outcomes for children aged 0-6 years.
• Empowering Anganwadi workers is a significant first step towards strengthening the programme.
• Regardless of being the ICDS''s cornerstone, they are frequently pushed to their breaking point. As the primary operatives in the Poshan 2.0 initiative, these individuals are responsible for advancing child nutrition, health, and education in their communities.
• Their roles range from using modern technology such as smartphones and apps to performing practical tasks such as providing health education, managing feeding programmes, and liaising with auxiliary nurse midwives and other healthcare professionals.

Advantages of Empowering Anganwadi Workers

• To reduce the burden on these workers, an additional Anganwadi worker could be given to each of India''s 13,99,661 Anganwadi centres.
• Implementing this strategy could result in at least five benefits:

Enhanced Health and Educational Outcomes

• It would lead to better health and educational outcomes.
• A large-scale randomised controlled trial conducted in Tamil Nadu to assess the effects of increasing staff levels within the ICDS framework yielded significant results.
• The addition of a half-time employee effectively doubled the net preschool instructional time, resulting in improved math and language test scores for children enrolled in the programme.

Cost-Effective Implementation

• Enrolled Children also exhibited reduced rates of child stunting and severe malnutrition.

Specialization and Expanded Reach

• The cost of a nationwide roll-out of this model is relatively insignificant in comparison to the potential advantages it offers.
• The estimated long-term benefits, based on expected improvements in lifetime earnings, would be around 13 to 21 times the expenses.

Specialization and Expanded Reach

• The new Anganwadi worker could be tasked with focusing only on preschool and early childhood education, which allows existing workers to devote more time to child health and nutrition.
• It would also enable Anganwadi workers to broaden their reach and serve a greater number of families.

Job Creation and Empowerment

• Apart from improving the well-being of rural communities, this would create job opportunities for residents, particularly women.
• It would lead to the creation of 1.3 million new jobs for women across India.

Implementation and Funding of the Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 Proposal

• The Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 proposal''s operationalization is dependent on its status as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• State governments are in charge of its implementation, which includes administration, management, and monitoring.
• As a result, Anganwadi worker recruitment falls under their jurisdiction, with regulations and region-specific criteria in place.
• This decentralised strategy encourages tailored, efficient implementation.
• The Government of India contributes to the honorariums of Anganwadi workers and helpers on a cost-sharing basis.

Aside from that, the data show a significant variation in ICDS implementation and Anganwadi worker skill levels. This necessitates additional investments in the training programme. Furthermore, the importance of infrastructure development in India''s Anganwadi centres cannot be overstated. A troubling 2.5 lakh centres lack functional sanitation facilities, and 1.5 lakh centres lack access to potable water. There are approximately 4.15 lakh Anganwadi centres that do not have their pucca building. To fully realise the ICDS''s potential and address persistent issues, its strategies and implementation must be revisited and re-evaluated. Empowering Anganwadi workers is just the beginning.