TIME TO CHANGE THE OUTLOOK OF ICDS SCHEME (AWCS): COMPREHENSIVE FACTS

India is one of the countries with malnutrition and associated health problems. It is also the country with high-level of regional disparity, social hierarchy and inclusive society and is recounted with highest mortality of children of less than 5 years of age with nearly 74 deaths per 1000 live births. As per the reports the hunger and malnutrition among children prevails in large pockets in India. Perusal of literature depicts that 38% of children younger than five years of age in India are stunted. The problem of undernourishment costs India at least $10 billion annually in terms of loss of productivity, illness and death and improvement in human development. ICDS represents the notable symbols of commitment and retort to the above mentioned challenges by providing pre-school education on one hand and simultaneously breaks the nasty cycle of starvation, morbidity, abridged learning capacity and mortality. ICDS hence is believed to be the most imperative and focal progamme with positive role in tackling India's health and nutrition problems. All the blocks of Jammu and Kashmir are also covered under the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme. The programme is implemented through a network of community-level “Anganwadi Centers”. Despite huge allocations by the Central Government through Centrally Sponsored Programme of ICDS in India (especially in rural areas of the state), and under the flagship of this scheme in Jammu and Kashmir, still the growth in basic infrastructure and perfections in amenities/facilities remained unsatisfactory. The National Educational Policy 2020 guarantee to meet UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 4.2 by 2030 and ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality pre-primary education provide opportunities to safeguard impartial access to quality pre-school education. The main theme of this review is to attract the attention with the fact that there must be emphasis more on the significance of the scheme at various platforms. It is the time to evaluate the actual position of the scheme with respect to its execution at the ground level with specified objectives. Also our focus here is to inform concerned Govt. authorities that new insights and tactics cum methodologies need to be developed with respect to inclusive facts to broaden its implementation along with remedial steps to remove the imperfection.