The ICDS scheme has multiple objectives, with a focus on nutrition and health of the child as well as the mother. Figure 1 shows how the nutritional indicators affected by the scheme have changed in the district between 2015-16 and 2019-21.

Figure 1: Performance of Gajapati in select nutritional indicators (%)

• The incidence of stunting, underweight and anaemia among children and women increased over time in Gajapati, which is a matter of concern.
• On children who are wasted, the incidence decreased over time, which was a positive development.

Figure 2: Change in Nutritional Status from 2015-16 to 2019-21 (%)

• Between NFHS 4 and NFHS 5, Odisha shows an improvement on all three indicators of child undernutrition— stunting, wasting and underweight. However, for the district of Gajapati, improvement was seen only in the case of wasting.
• Both the state and the district showed an increased incidence of anaemia among children and women. However, in percentage terms, the change in the state is much higher than in the district.

The following section engages with some factors under the scope of ICDS that can influence nutritional outcomes in children, such as adequate diet and breastfeeding practices. The purpose of this review is to understand the conditions in which the ICDS scheme is being implemented in the district.

Figure 3: Factors influencing child nutritional outcomes in Gajapati (%)

• Early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding have great health benefits for both infants and mothers, and is recommended by WHO and UNICEF (Selim 2018) to address the nutritional needs of infant and young children. Under the Anganwadi Services Scheme, counselling on infant and young child feeding practices is provided to pregnant women and lactating mothers.
• In Gajapati, both early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding increased by about 6 percentage points and 30 percentage points, respectively.
• After the first 6 months, breastmilk is not enough to meet the energy and nutrition needs of infants. It is time for them to be provided with complementary food. The provision of Supplementary Nutrition Program (SNP) under ICDS is a self-selecting scheme that aims to address the gap between the ‘recommended dietary allowance’ and the ‘average daily intake’.
• In Gajapati, the percentage of children receiving adequate diet increased from 4.8% to 18.8%. Although the base continues to be low, it is a positive development.
   

Figure 4 and Figure 5 analyse the trend of allocation, expenditure and utilisation of funds for ICDS in Gajapati, based on data collected from the district treasury (accessed on 30^th October, 2022). Here, utilisation of funds is calculated in percentage terms as expenditure over allocation.

Figure 4: Allocation and Expenditure of ICDS funds in Gajapati (Rs crore)

• Allocation under ICDS increased 19.1% from 2018-19 to 2019-20, but then decreased 6% in 2020-21. The decrease in 2020-21 may be due to the non-inclusion of funds from the central treasury (Khordha in the case of Odisha). In 2020-21, funds were directly transferred to beneficiaries under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) and for honorarium to Anganwadi workers and helpers.
• Expenditure increased by 17.8% in 2019-20, but fell marginally by 1% in 2020-21.  
  While allocation and expenditure were the highest in 2019-20, utilisation levels were the lowest that year. The utilisation percentage increased in 2020-21.

Figure 5: Utilisation of ICDS funds in Gajapati (%)

Figure 6 shows that the share of funds allocated to Gajapati from the total funds for Odisha is in sync with the district’s allocation and expenditure.

Figure 6: Share of Gajapati in amount allotted and expenditure by Odisha under ICDS (%)

• While allocation and expenditure both increased over the years for the state, the share of the district increased in 2019-20 and then dropped in 2020-21. This means that in spite of the overall increase in funds in the state, Gajapati’s share reduced. However, this may again be due to the non-inclusion of funds from the central treasury in the latest year.
   
• Apart from funds, human resource conditions and the physical infrastructure of Anganwadi centres (AWCs) of a state can influence a district’s ability to efficiently deliver ICDS services. According to PIB (2021), there are 74,154 sanctioned and 72,587 operational AWCs in the state— a gap of 1,567 AWCs. Further, there are 2,589 and 2,251 vacant positions for Anganwadi workers and helpers, respectively.

Figure 7 shows the number of AWCs without their own building, and running from community premises such as schools, panchayats and other community spaces.

Figure 7: Infrastructure of AWCs in Gajapati

• Figure 8 and Figure 9 show block-wise allocation and expenditure of ICDS funds in Gajapati, and the differences among the blocks.
  In 2019-20, all blocks under the district received a higher allocation compared to 2018-19. However, in 2020-21, the trend was reversed. All blocks received a lower allocation under the ICDS scheme.
• Gosani block had the smallest increase in 2019-20, as well as the biggest decrease in 2020-21.

Figure 8: Change in block-wise allocation of ICDS Funds in Gajapati (%)

• Between 2018-19 and 2019-20, expenditure increased in some blocks such as Gumma, Mohana, Rayagada and R Udayagiri, while it decreased for the rest. In the following year, expenditure increased for Mohana, Rayagada, Kashinagar and Naugada, but decreased for the rest. Therefore, in spite of the consistent change in allocation across blocks, expenditure is seen varying for different blocks over time.

Figure 9: Change in block-wise expenditure of ICDS Funds in Gajapati (%)

Given the importance of ICDS in providing nutrition and helping in the overall development of children, different data/information about the scheme should be readily available to and accessible by the common masses.

The following table shows a list of essential data points/information regarding ICDS that various stakeholders will find useful. The availability and accessibility of this information is critical to ensure the scheme’s success. The current level of information available has been evaluated for each of the indicators.

 Transparency and Accountability Index

Availability

Is the data is available at the district level?

Fiscal (input) indicators: Yes, on the district treasury website. Fiscal information is available project-wise and district-wise for the years data was collected, viz. 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21. It is not available component-wise. Data is available for the following fiscal indicators: allotted amount, expenditure and balance.

Outcome indicators: Yes. It is available online for nutrition-specific indicators such as stunting, wasting, anaemia among children, etc, from the National Family Health Survey.

Is the data available via online/offline mode?

Fiscal (input) indicators: Online

Outcome indicators: Online

Accessibility

Is the data available in an 'open access' format?

Fiscal (input) indicators: Yes

Outcome indicators: Yes

Is the data published in machine-readable formats, such as CSV, Excel etc., and is it easily reusable?

Fiscal (input) indicators: Yes. Data can be downloaded in PDF format.

Outcome indicators: Data is available in PDF format.

Is the data published in multiple languages?

Fiscal (input) indicators: No, English only

Outcome indicators: No, English only

Completeness/Comprehensiveness  

Is the data complete or partial?

Fiscal (input) indicators: Fiscal information is available for various components along with disaggregated information about the standard objects under each of these components.

Outcome indicators: The information is comprehensive and available for similar indicators for both districts and states.

Timeliness of Data that is available

Is the data generated on a timely and regular basis?

Fiscal (input) indicators: Yes

Outcome indicators: No

How frequently is the data updated?

Fiscal (input) indicators: Real time

Outcome indicators: NFHS data is available at different intervals each time. The latest survey was conducted after an interval of three years.

Which year does the latest data cover?

Fiscal (input) indicators: Latest/ ongoing financial year

Outcome indicators: For NFHS, data is available up to 2019-20.

User-friendliness and relevance of data that is available 

Is the data easy to understand and comprehend and are the analytics published online? (Is it free of technical codes and difficult terminology?)

Fiscal (input) indicators: For Odisha, a separate sheet is available with the DDO list and DDO codes. The codes are needed to download the required data for selected dates.

Outcome indicators: Yes, analytics produced by NFHS are relevant and user friendly.

Public participation and accountability  

Is there space for people to participate in planning/budgeting/monitoring/evaluation/auditing of the scheme at the district/block/panchayat level?

No

Are people physically present and actively involved in the consultations/meetings in any of the above tiers of programme design and implementation?

No

If there is no possibility of physical participation, are there other 'means' of participation?

No

Is there any provision for a social audit of the scheme?

No

Are social audits conducted as per norms?

No

Are social audit reports publicly available?

Not applicable

Is there any grievance redressal mechanism for beneficiaries?

No

• Performance of health and nutritional indicators related to child and maternal wellbeing viz-a-viz stunting, underweight, anaemia among target groups, deteriorated over time in Gajapati.
• To address these nutritional and health conditions, ICDS provides a set of services. For the successful delivery of these services, appropriate budgetary allocation and utilisation is crucial.
• The overall fiscal trend for ICDS in Gajapati shows an increase in allocation and expenditure from 2018-19 to 2020-21. However, in 2020-21, there was a dip in both allocation and expenditure, which can be due to the non-inclusion of funds from the central treasury and as an impact of short- and medium-term disruptions in the wake of the COVID-19 induced lockdown.
• While allocation and expenditure both increased over the years for the state, the share of the district increased in 2019-20 and then dropped in 2020-21. This may again be due to the non-inclusion of central treasury funds.
• Among the 7 blocks, in spite of the consistent change in allocation across blocks, expenditure is seen to be varying for different blocks over time
• In the overall fiscal trend, the year that experienced the highest allocation (2019-20) also saw the lowest utilisation. This shows that increased allocation must be complemented with appropriate use of funds to implement policies that address the needs of beneficiaries.
• Further, as Gajapati is a tribal dominated district, attention must be paid to appropriate allocation and utilisation of resources in the region for better health and nutritional outcomes for the target population.