Abstract

This report presents an analysis of ICDS national and state budgets (for Delhi, Odisha and Telangana) for four years from 2014-15 to 2017-18. It analyses these budgets in relation to changes in financial planning in India, following the introduction of the Fourteenth Finance Commission, as well as in relation to the specific populations and additional/differential provisions (e.g., with regards to salaries of workers, timings of anganwadis, schemes, etc.) made by individual states. The section also provides an account of sample ICDS centres visited across the three states and attempts to analyse the budgets in relation to the processes and practices noted there, as well as in relation to the discussions undertaken with ICDS functionaries.

The key points noted in this report are the decline in the number of ICDS beneficiaries availing ICDS services, and budgets in the recent years. It also notes that among the states, Odisha, with the highest shortage in number of operational anganwadis, also has the highest child population between 0-6 years, as well as the highest number of enrolments in anganwadis. Telangana, a newly formed state, has the highest working hours for anganwadis and the highest honorarium for workers among the three states. Among the states, Odisha is also the only state with a separate budget for PSE. Delhi has the highest per capita ICDS spending, which is perhaps driven by high rents. The visits to state anganwadis, though very limited in terms of number, suggested the highest level of satisfaction from the services in Telangana, indicating that expenditure on salaries, training and motivation of human resources coupled with attention to monitoring by and accountability to diverse stakeholders is perhaps more important in terms of ensuring quality service than investing in infrastructure alone. Although this is not an either/or choice, investment in human resources seem to be a necessary condition while investment in infrastructure is a sufficient condition.

This report is part of a series of four reports about the state of ECCE in India, the collection of which must be read together to make complete sense. For more information refer to the following link.

CBPS. (2017, March). Research studies on ECCE: integrated child development scheme (ICDS) - an analysis of the national budgets with special reference to three states (Delhi, Odisha and Telangana). Bengaluru: Centre for Budget and Policy Studies.