'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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Karnataka Governor gives assent to legislation against ‘honour killing’ in inter-caste marriages
Bengaluru: The government has brought into force the Karnataka Freedom of Choice in Marriage and Prevention and Prohibition of Crimes in the name of honour and tradition (Eva Nammava Eva Nammava) Act, 2026, intended to restrict ‘honour killings’ in inter-caste marriages.
According to The Indian Express, the legislation received assent from Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on April 9 and was officially notified in the state gazette on April 10. The law had been passed unanimously by the state legislature last month.
The Bill was proposed by the Congress government in the wake of caste-linked ‘honour killings’ in the state, including the December 21, 2025, murder near Hubli of a 20-year-old Lingayat woman by her father for marrying a man from another caste.
The phrase ‘Eva Nammava Eva Nammava’ in the title is in reference to the message of universal humanity that the Lingayat saint Basavanna espoused. Basavanna, who rebelled against the caste system to lay the foundation of the Lingayat faith system, an amalgamation of all castes, used the words meaning ‘he is a part of me’ to say all people are one.
Under the new law, crimes committed in the name of ‘honour’, including murder, assault, threats, and social boycott, are specifically addressed with stringent punishments. ‘Honour killing’ offences carry a minimum imprisonment of five years, while serious assaults attract at least three years in jail.
The new law defines the social boycott of inter-caste couples as forcible eviction to remote corners of villages, refusal to provide services, refusal to provide work, refusal to conduct business, denial of loans and admissions to schools, and makes it punishable.
In the case of ‘honour killings’ per se, the new law prescribes a minimum imprisonment of five years, and in the case of assaults, a prison term that is not less than three years for serious injury and two years for minor injuries.
The offences under the proposed law are cognisable and non-bailable, which means police can carry out arrests without court permissions after taking up a case.
The legislation follows several reported inter-caste relationship-related killings in Karnataka in 2025, including cases in Raichur and another involving 18-year-old Kavita.
The law to protect the freedom of choice in marriages is among several social bills that the Congress government has brought out in line with its policies for the backward and downtrodden communities in the state.
