Nutrition related and other needs of around 37 lakh pregnant women, lactating mothers and children in the state could soon be met out with the funds received from corporates under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and other community contribution.State Women and Child Development department is planning to setup a corpus fund created with the money from CSR, crowd funding, trusts, community and individual contribution. Rajasthan is the first state in the country which is mulling over to create such CSR Agency for nutrition and other essential and immediate needs of mother and child in the state.So far CSR funds are being used only in infrastructural development and renovation work at Anganwadi Centres.
“We are planning to establish an agency of CSR at the department level with the provision of untied fund. So that we can use it as per the immediate needs of women and children,” Shuchi Sharma, Commissioner, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), told DNA.“Intentions are to cut 100% dependency on government when it comes to meet out some additional but essential needs like giving extra milk in any high burden district or distributing shoes to children during chilling winters.In a government system, to fulfill all these needs, it requires umpteen formalities and procedures to be followed which most of the times are lengthy. With the establishment of CSR corpus, not only the dependency on government will be reduced but also requirements will be fulfilled in lesser time as per the needs,”she added.
In Rajasthan, CSR incorporation in WCD department was introduced in the year 2015 with the initiative of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Since then, during the period of three years Rs 48 crore have been spent on infrastructure and basic facilities development at Anganwadi Centres across the state.
“We are at the view that the introduction of CSR Agency will provide flexibility and expand the reach of CSR funds utilisation, ultimately beneficial for mothers and children in the state,” said Shuchi Sharma.
CSR agency aims to complete immediate needs like
- Providing extra milk in high burden district
- Shoes distribution
- Uniforms for children
- Toys for Anganwadi centres
- Books for poor children
- Tiffins for needy children
- Fund for any campaign without budget provision
Structure of proposed agency
Explaining about the proposed CSR agency, Shuchi Sharma told that the agency will be established with the provision of a minimum corpus fund of Rs 10 crore. It will have an independent board which will have representatives of all corporate partners,ICDS and community as directors. The board of director will have full independence to take decision about using the fund to supplement those immediate needs for which budget provision is not present.
CSR Agency for Jan Andolan
PM Narendra Modi, while launching National Nutrition Mission (NNM), said that the nutrition for mother and child should be taken as Jan Andolan. ICDS commissioner Shuchi Sharma said that the CSR corpus fund is a concept that is in sync with the PM’s appeal. This agency will add the third dimension of community with the existing two dimensions of the government and beneficiaries in ICDS programmes for healthy mother and child, hence build a wealthy and prosperous nation.
CSR in WCD department
