Thu Oct 02 16:11:32 UTC 2025: **Summary of Text Snippets:**

The text snippets describe various newsletters and news sections from “The Hindu” newspaper, covering topics such as international affairs from an Indian perspective, cinema, technology, science, data analysis, health, and book reviews.

The main news article reports on Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh’s comments on the 50th anniversary of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. Ramesh highlights the scheme’s historical importance and suggests improvements such as hiring additional workers, increasing funding, and expanding services to include daycare and creche facilities. He also criticizes the lack of governance improvements despite the scheme’s renaming to Mission Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0. He refers to recommendations from a Parliamentary Standing Committee and the Congress party’s ‘Nyay Patra’ for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

**News Article:**

**Congress Calls for Overhaul of Child Development Scheme on 50th Anniversary**

**New Delhi – October 2, 2025** – On the 50th anniversary of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh has called for a significant overhaul of the program, emphasizing that its governance has not kept pace with its rebranding.

Originally launched by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, ICDS is one of the world’s largest child welfare programs. “ICDS has since been renamed and subsumed under the Mission Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0. Unfortunately, the governance of the scheme has not kept pace with the name change,” Ramesh stated.

Highlighting the scheme’s critical role in improving India’s human development indicators, Ramesh outlined several areas needing urgent attention. He referenced a report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Women and Child Development, chaired by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, and echoed proposals from the Congress’s ‘Nyay Patra’ for the 2024 elections.

Key recommendations include:

* **Increased Staffing:** Hiring an additional worker for every anganwadi center dedicated to early childhood care and education.
* **Enhanced Funding:** Allocating sufficient funds for ICDS and revising cost norms for anganwadi services, a commitment allegedly made in the Finance Minister’s Budget speech earlier this year.
* **Expanded Services:** Extending anganwadi services to include day care and creche facilities for children above six months.
* **Updated Infrastructure:** Increasing the number of anganwadi centers based on the current population, rather than relying on 2011 Census figures.
* **Improved Nutrition:** Providing hot, cooked meals instead of take-home rations for all eligible beneficiaries.

Currently, there are 13.96 lakh Anganwadi Centres across the country which provide early education, health, and nutrition services to more than 7.65 crore children. Ramesh urged the government to address the shortcomings identified to ensure the ICDS continues to effectively serve India’s children for the next 50 years.

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