Over a decade, Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD) has been engaged in budget analysis of the

state. A modest centre called Odisha Budget and Accountability Centre (OBAC), a unit of CYSD came to existence

in 2010. It is a centre for excellence in the areas of budget, policy research and advocacy. OBAC is committed to

safeguard the interest of the poor and marginalised people in the state of Odisha through budget analysis and

advocacy with policymakers, citizens and media. It also strives to foster citizen’s perception on state budget and

thereby ensuring accountability of the government.

This document focuses on the status and priority of budget allocation for ECCD programmes in Odisha for the

last five years (2008-09 to 2012-13). The brief findings presented are the outcomes of analysis of information

collected from different budget documents and reports published by the state government and bilateral discus-

sion made with the Anganwadi Workers and Community members of Sundargarh and Koraput district.

We deeply express our gratitude to Bernard Van Leer Foundation (BvLF) which provided support and guidance

in bringing out this document. We hope these findings will enable various stakeholders in better under-

standing the budgetary consequences of ECCD and facilitate them to initiate dialogue in different fo-

rums for a favourable public provisioning of ECCD in the state.

Budget for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) in Odisha

Odisha Budget and Accountability Center (OBAC)

CYSD, E-1, Institutional Area, Gangadhar Meher Marg, Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Tel: +91-674-2301725/2301339. Fax: +91-674-2301226

Email: obac@cysd.org,

Website: www.cysd.org, www.obac.in

SEGMENTS OF ANALYSIS

- Status of budget allocation

for ECCD programmes in

Odisha

- Priority in state’s spending

for different components

under ECCD

- Policy asks and suggestions

- Status of ECCD in tribal

and non-tribal districts of

Odisha

The Rationale

Odisha is home to 50.36 lakh children (12 % of the total state population) in the age group of 0-6 years and 63.06

lakh children in the age group of 6-14 years. Increased rate of infant mortality (which is 63 against the national

average of 51) and under five mortality (which is 83 against the national average of 63) have been the triggering

issues in the context of early childhood development in our State along with the persistent tight spot of malnutrition

(61.71 percent in age group of 0-3 years). As per the Annual Report of Women and Child Development Dept. of

Odisha, 2011-12; 1.2 lakh children have not been attending the Anganwadi Centres out of the 16.1 lakh enrolled.

Similarly, 4,50,507 number of children are taking the benefit of SNP but are deprived of Pre-School Education

(PSE) in the State during the session 2011-12. The State Government has been implementing several programs

like Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), Supplementary

Nutrition Programme (SNP), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Adoption facilitation Center, Child care homes

etc. to address the perpetual and bleak consequences of malnutrition, destitution, and lack of facilities for pre-

school education. Despite all these efforts, the existing scenario related to Early Childhood Care and Development

in State is concerning.

Budget for ECCD

Budget for ECCD programmes is funded by both the Central Government and State Government. The major budget

share for the accomplishment of the programs is borne by the Central Government. The State Government along

with its own specific schemes, also shares some portion of the budget for execution of Centrally Sponsored

Schemes.

Women and Child Development (WCD) Department is the nodal department to manage the ECCD programmes in

the State. The department manages about 95 percent of the total fund for ECCD. Other than WCD Department, the

departments like, Health and Family Welfare Department, School and Mass Education Department, Department for

ST & SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare also contribute towards the ECCD programmes in

the State.

Table:-1 Year and Component wise expenditure for ECCD (Rs In Crores)

Source: - Demand for grants of different years, Govt. of Odisha *Components of WCD Department # Components of Health and Family Welfare Department

Components 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13(RE)

Protection* 8.08 12.59 21.12 24.08 39.62

ICDS* 217.53 276.36 324.91 439.97 783.02

SNP* 197.56 324.05 477.83 546.67 585.11

Construction of AWCs & CDPO Building* 9.98 16.65 10.72 216.23 207.76

Special Institutions for Children* 0.05 0.23 0.36 0.59 0.33

Institute of Paediatrics# 6.29 5.41 7.67 6.38 8.76

Maternity and child welfare Centres # 3.06 3.88 4.21 4.22 5.02

Infant mortality reduction under Child Sur-

vival and safe Motherhood Programme # 1.30 NA NA NA NA

ECCE (By Sarva Sikshya Aviyan) 3.36 3.77 4.46 3.69 0.62

Total budget for ECCD 447.20 642.94 851.28 1241.83 1630.24

Budget for ECCD As % of GSDP 0.30 0.39 0.44 0.58 0.63

Budget for ECCD As % of State Budget 1.66 2.11 2.36 2.95 3.14

Protection: Adoption of Orphan and Destitute Children, Central Home, Integrated Child Protected Schemes, Voluntary for Maintenance of Physically

handicapped and mentally retarded children, Rehabilitation of Child in need of care and protection of Juveniles in conflict with law, Maintenance of Orphan

and Destitute Children, Orphanage

ICDS: ICDS-Training Programme, Integrated Child Development Service Schemes-District Cell, Integrated Child Development Service Schemes

Special institutes: State Council for Child Welfare, Mahila and Sishu Desks, State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, CHILD LINE, secretarial Support

to District J.J. Board/Child Welfare Committee.

Major Findings

1. As per the census 2011 data state accommodates 5.03 lakh of population in the age group of 0-6 year, which is

12 percent of the total population of the State. On the other hand the state’s allocation for ECCD programmes in

2012-13 was only 3.14 percent of the total state budget and 0.63 percent of GSDP.

2. As per the revised norm of ICDS mission there is provision of Rs 3000 per AWC and Rs 1500 per mini AWC per

annum for pre-school education kit. In2011-12 there was no allocation made under the head of “pre-school

education”. However, during 2012-13 a meagre amount of Rs. 1000 was allocated in this head to keep the head

active.

3. State government has established some special institutions like State Council for Child Welfare, Mahila Sisu

Desk, State commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR), district Juvenile justice board/child welfare commit-

tee and Child Line to address child related issues in the State. Budget provisions for these special institutions are

negligible i.e. only Rs. 33.00 lakh (0.02 % of the total ECCD budget) in 2012-13. There was no allocation for Child

Line where as other institutions like Mahila Sisu Desk and SCPCR got an allocation of only Rs 1 lakh and. Rs 25.00

Lakh respectively.

4. Out of the total 71134 AWCs only 16000 had their own pucca building till December 2012 (as per WCD

department). In 2012-13 an amount of Rs. 200.00 Crore was allocated for construction of 4000 new AWC

buildings. To construct pucca building for the remaining 51134 AWCs there will be a requirement of Rs 2556.70

Crore (@ 5 Lakh per centre).

5. At present 37134 AWCs in State are running in temporary accommodations such as in community hall, youth

club, rented house etc. As per the revised guideline of ICDS mission there is provision of Rs 700 and Rs 3000 for

rent per month in rural area and urban area respectively. As it was found that there is no specific budget head for

house rent for AWCs, it is supposed to be booked under the head “Other expenditure”. The field observations from

two districts (Sundargarh and Koraput) shows due to insufficient allocation under this head , the AWCs running in

rented houses are not providing rents to the respective owners.

6. Budget for ICPS has been increasing for last four years. But it was found that the actual expenditure is very less

as compared to the estimated budget under this head. In 2010-11 there was an allocation of Rs 21.25 Crore but

the actual expenditure was only Rs 5.42 Crore. Similarly only Rs 8.06 Crore was spent in 2011-12 against an

allocated amount of Rs 24.89 Crore for ICPS.

7. State receives central grants for ECCD programmes under WCD Department in two separate heads such as:

“Child development Grant” and “ICDS”. It is observed that for financial year 2012-13 no fund was released under

“ICDS” by the Central Govt till December 2012. All the funds were transferred to the State in January and February,

2013. It shows a skewed pattern of fund release by the central government which ultimately affect the functioning

and quality of the programme.

8. The ECCD index which is being calculated by taking the five indicators such as: Under 5 Mortality Rate,

Immunization, Low Birth Weight, Initiation of Brest Feeding and Child Sex Ratio; depicts an apprehensive picture

for the districts. It is revealed that 26 out of 30 districts scores below 0 .8 point in the ECCD Index. There is also a

great disparity has been observed among the districts in relation to child health indicators.

Policy asks and Suggestions

Pucca building is the first and foremost requirement to ensure a safe and secured environment in AWCs. If it is

assumed to fulfil the commitment of providing pucca building for each AWC in coming three years, the state

need to allocate Rs 852.23 Crore per year, (@ Rs 5 Lakh per center as per current norm).

The revised cost norm for maintenance of AWC building (Rs 2000 per annum) seems inappropriate looking at

maintenance demand of majority of the centres. Thus there should be provision to meet the actual cost of

maintenance.

The revised cost norm by ICDS mission is Rs 3000 per AWC and Rs 1500 per mini AWC per annum for pre-

school education kit. This amount of budget allocation should be made under the budget head “Pre-school edu-

cation”. Along with the state need to design a clear guideline for spending the amount under pre-school educa-

tion head.

Continuous and adequate annual grants to the existing special institutions like SCPCR, Child Line, Mahila

Shishu Desk should be provided for smooth functioning of these institutes.

As there is no specific budget head for providing rent for the centres running in rented house, the State should

made budget provision under the head Other expenditure and should ensure timely payment of rent for the

centres running in rented houses.

Looking at the differences in ECCD index score among the districts, the state should develop mechanism to

maintain equity in resource allocation to balance the gap.

Realizing the importance of pre-school education component, the existing training package seems insufficient

and non- contextualized. Each AWW should undergo a training of minimum five days package in a year only

meant for pre-school education.

ECCD index in Odisha: Tribal Vs. Non-Tribal Districts

UNDER 5 MORTALITY

INFANT MORTALITY

ECCD index in Odisha: Tribal Vs. Non-Tribal Districts

EARLY INITIATION OF BREASTEFEEDING

CHILD SEX RATIO

ECCD index in Odisha: Tribal Vs. Non-Tribal Districts

BIRTH WEIGHT

IMMUNIZATION

ECCD index in Odisha: Tribal Vs. Non-Tribal Districts

COMPOSITE ECCD INDEX

> 0.8 -1

(Low)

< 0.7-0.8

(Moderate)

< 0.6-0.7

(Serious)

< 0.5-0.6

(Alarming)

< 0.5

(Extremely

alarming)

Keonjhar

Bhadrak

Kendrapada

Mayurbhanj

Baleshwar

Jajpur

Jagatsinghpur

Khordha

Puri

Rayagada

Kalahandi

Nuapada

Sonepur

Sambalpur

Jharsuguda

Sundargarh

Deogarh

Bargarh

Balangir

Nabarangpur

Gajapati

Cuttack

Dhenkanal

Angul

Koraput

Nayagarh

Kandhamal

Ganjam

Malkangiri

DISTRICT WISE SEVERITY OF ODISHA ECCD INDEX

ECCD index is calculated by using the methodology used by National University of Educational

Planning and Administration (NUEPA) for calculating Educational Development Index (EDI).

www.nuepa.org