Bitter feud
differences between women and child development minister Renuka Choudhury and the Planning Commission over providing food to poor children under the Integrated Child Development Services (icds) have escalated to a stand-off.
In May, the ministry forwarded a plan to compulsorily provide poor children micronutrient-fortified, ready-to-eat food instead of hot cooked meal as part of the revamped icds scheme proposed to the Expenditure Finance Committee. The proposal is to give fortified food for the first two years of the eleventh Five Year Plan.
The Planning Commission has assigned Rs 52,000 crore to the icds scheme under the eleventh Five Year Plan. Now the ministry has sent a proposal of Rs 72,000 crore to the committee for the expansion of the scheme.
The proposals evoked strong response from the Prime Minister