What is the full form of ICDS


ICDS: Integrated Child Development Services

ICDS stands for Integrated Child Development Services. It is a popular flagship program of the Govt. of India for all-round development of children. It aims to provide food, preschool education, basic healthcare like immunization, health check-up, and referral services to children under the age of 6 and their mothers.

ICDS Full Form

It is an integrated package of services for the holistic development of the child. This program was introduced in 1975, but discontinued in 1978 and then re-introduced by the Tenth Five Year Plan. The beneficiaries of this program include children in the age group of 0 to 6, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

Objectives of ICDS:

  • To improve the nutritional and health status of children below the age of 6
  • To conduct programs for the physical, social, and psychological development of children
  • To reduce the rate of mortality, illness, child malnutrition and school dropout
  • To improve the health of the mothers and make them capable of looking after the health and nutritional needs of their children through proper nutrition and health education

Services under ICDS:

The ICDS scheme offers the following services:

  • Basic Nutrition
  • Pre-school educational
  • Nutrition and health education
  • Immunization
  • Health check-up
  • Referral services

These services are available at local ICDS centre called Anganwadi, run by Anganwadi workers, the community-based women which are paid for their work. These women are assisted by medical officers, Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANM), and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) to provide immunization, ante-natal, and post-natal care. However, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) monitors the ICDS scheme.


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