Govt batting for ICDS centres in state to have their own buildings

Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government is taking major steps to ensure that ICDS centres are run from their own buildings.

At present, there is a section of ICDS centres that do not run from their own buildings. In a bid to ensure a better functioning of the same and with improved infrastructure, the state government has taken the move of constructing buildings from where the centres can be run.

This comes at the time when the Centre has reduced its share of funds to run the project and there is hardly any allocation to construct new buildings. The state government has taken the necessary steps in such a situation to ensure that common people do not get deprived of their benefits.

Sashi Panja, minister of state of the Women and Child Development and Social Welfare department, said: "The state government is taking all necessary steps to ensure that people get all benefits by proper functioning of the ICDS centres, despite the Union government's steps of reduction in its share of funds."

It may be mentioned that there were 19,486 ICDS centres in the state that used to run from their own buildings in 2011. Now in 2018, the number has gone up to 52,113.

Steps have been taken to ensure that maximum number of ICDS centres in the state have their own buildings. A team headed by the Chief Secretary has been set up in this connection.

It may be mentioned that the state government is spending around Rs 350 crore for better functioning of the ICDS centres, as the Centre has reduced its share under different heads for the project.

The Centre has reduced its share from 75 percent of the total cost to 25 percent of the same. As a result, the state

government is now bearing 75 percent of the cost to ensure that common people do not suffer.