Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan, Wednesday reviewed the achievements of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Department of Social Welfare in a meeting here.While reviewing the functioning of ICDS, he was informed that the ICDS programme, incorporated under the National Policy for Children aims at to improve the nutritional health and psychological development of children and takes care of health of mothers. It was informed that the Department runs 6 services and 74 projects, involving 15669 sanctioned Anganwadi Centres (AWC), in the Kashmir Division.
The Divisional Commissioner was informed that ICDS services include Supplementary Nutrition, Immunization, Health Check-ups, Referral Services, Non-formal Pre-school Education(all for children and lactating mothers) and Nutritional and Health Education (for all women in the age group of 15-45 years).He was further informed that the number of beneficiaries enrolled with AWCs of the Kashmir Province is 68760. It was further informed that Rs. 493 crore has been released for payment honorarium to AWWs and AWHs up to August 2016 , while an amount of Rs. 62 lakh has been released in favour of 9 districts for completion works of 25 AWC buildings.
The meeting was told that Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) is being implemented in Anantnag, Kupwara and Leh, while as Indira Gandhi Matritwa Sahyog Yogna (IGMSY) is being implemented in Anantnag. It was also given out that Rs. 29.05 lakh and Rs 25.60 lakh have been released during the current fiscal under the Nutrition and the Non-Nutrition components of the RGSEAG respectively, while Rs 85.00 lakh have been released under the IGMSY under which Rs. 6000 is given to pregnant and lactating women.Reviewing the functioning of Social Welfare Department, the Div Com was informed that besides the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) and Integrated Social Security Scheme(ISSS), newly launched schemes including Aasra, State Marriage Assistance Scheme (SMAS), and Hunar are being implemented by the department.Giving details, he was informed that total of 78,656 beneficiaries are enrolled under NSAP, a pension scheme covering old age persons, widows and disabled persons, while as 52,682 cases are pending sanction. Under ISSS, which also covers old age persons, widows and PCPs, a total of 2,42,668 beneficiaries are registered with the Department.The Divisional Commissioner stressed on digitizing and strengthening of the mechanism to ensure transparency so that more deserving beneficiaries are covered under the schemes.It was further given out that under Aasra, SMAS and Hunar, 24,725, 2,968 and 2,988 beneficiaries are benefitted respectively. The meeting was also informed about various scholarship schemes. It was informed under Matric-cum-Means 6,890 , under Post-Matric 49,516 and under Pre-Matric 38,257 applications stand submitted as on date.