'Nutrition monitoring software helping in monitoring anganwadi staff's work'
New Delhi, June 25: The Integrated Child Development Services-Common Application Software (ICDS-CAS), introduced for the 'Poshan Abhiyaan' (nutrition scheme has helped to track proper functioning of anganwadi workers, an official said here on Monday.
"We found that the anganwadi centres do not remain open all the days and with this software, we can keep a track on the functioning of the centres. It is a more systematic pattern and has brought in changes in operation of the scheme," said Women and Child Development Secretary Rakesh Srivastava.
Smartphones with the ICDS-CAS software, provided to the anganwadi workers and lady supervisors, will ensure assigned service delivery and prompts for intervention, he said.
"This data is then made available in near real time supervisory staff from sector, block, district, state to national level through a dashboard for monitoring," he added.
According to the ministry, 95 lakh plus have been registered as beneficiaries under the scheme which is functioning in 57 districts of seven states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The ‘Poshan Abhiyaan' primarily aim to bring down stunting of the children in the age group of 0-6 years from 38.4 per cent to 25 per cent by the year 2022. All 36 states and union territories, and 718 districts will be covered in a phased manner by 2020.
The ministry will also organise a seminar on Thursday on use of technology for steering the programme.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
