Anganwadi enrolment falls despite efforts, Delhi govt plans survey of children up to 6 years old

According to the Outcome Budget 2022-23, there are 10,897 Anganwadi centres in Delhi. It also shows that the number of children enrolled in these centres has decreased relatively. In 2021, 77,019 children aged 0-6 months were registered as Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) beneficiaries. This fell to 57,399 the following year.

The number of children aged 6 months to 3 years was 34,3785 in 2022-23. In the previous year, the number was 42,6452. Children aged 3-6 registered at the Anganwadi centres are 14,1058, down from 28,1215 from 2021-22.

“In recent brainstorming sessions held amongst the senior officers of the department, it has been observed that despite the upgradation of Anganwadi services and efforts of the department in providing improved services to the beneficiaries, the number of children enrolled in the Anganwadi centres has not increased proportionally. So, to understand the underlying challenges and reasons for the slow increase in enrolment of children in Anganwadis… It was unanimously proposed that supervisors conduct a digital survey of children between ages 1 and 6 in the districts,” said an official.

The WCD directed all the supervisors to conduct the digital survey in their respective areas using a link to a Google Form within one month. According to officials, child development project officers (CDPOs) will also follow up with the supervisors every week to ensure timely survey completion.