The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Government of India, launched on October 2, 1975, to address the interconnected challenges of child malnutrition, poor health, and fragmented service delivery. It is one of the world's largest community-based programs, operating under the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
The scheme's core mechanism is the delivery of a package of six services to children aged 0-6 years, pregnant women, and lactating mothers through a vast network of Anganwadi Centres (AWCs). The six services are: Supplementary Nutrition, Pre-school Non-formal Education, Nutrition & Health Education, Immunization, Health Check-up, and Referral Services. The last three services are provided in convergence with the health system, often through the National Health Mission (NHM). The AWCs, staffed by frontline Anganwadi Workers, serve as the primary village post for health, nutrition, and early learning.
ICDS connects directly to the National Nutrition Mission (Poshan Abhiyan), which was launched in 2017 to strengthen its implementation through digital tracking and monitoring. The scheme has undergone a significant recent change: in Financial Year 2021-22, the ICDS scheme, along with Poshan Abhiyaan and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls, was restructured and subsumed under the umbrella program Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0. This restructuring aimed to converge nutrition-related initiatives and strengthen outcomes, though the core package of six services delivered through the Anganwadi Centres remains the same. The inclusion of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) within the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 further identifies standalone anganwadis as a site for ECCE activities.