Integrated Child Development Services were started in the year

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 2:

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme was officially launched in India on **2nd October, 1975**. This date is highly significant as it coincided with the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, reflecting the government's commitment to prioritizing child welfare as a core national objective. The ICDS scheme was established following the adoption of the National Policy for Children in 1974, which underscored the importance of providing comprehensive services for the all-round development of children. As a centrally sponsored scheme, ICDS was introduced with the primary aim of improving the nutritional and health status of children under six years of age, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. It began with 33 experimental projects across the country—covering rural, urban, and tribal blocks—and has since grown into one of the world’s largest community-based programs for early childhood development. Its integrated package of services includes supplementary nutrition, immunization, health check-ups, referral services, preschool non-formal education, and nutrition and health education, all delivered through the Anganwadi Centres. Therefore, 2nd October 1975 marks the historic inception of this flagship social welfare program.

The incorrect option is 1:

The date **2nd October, 1973** is incorrect as the ICDS scheme was not established until two years later. While India’s commitment to child welfare was developing around this time, the foundational National Policy for Children, which formally paved the way for ICDS, was adopted in 1974, not 1973. Government policies and large-scale schemes like ICDS require extensive planning, pilot studies, and budgetary allocations, a process that was still underway in 1973. Thus, while the idea for a comprehensive child welfare program may have been conceptually active, the formal launch of the Integrated Child Development Services did not occur until the stated date in 1975. This option misses the crucial timeline of the scheme's formal institutionalization and implementation.

The incorrect option is 3:

The date **2nd October, 1979** is a plausible but incorrect option because it falls four years after the actual commencement of the program. Although the ICDS scheme experienced a period of political uncertainty and was briefly discontinued in 1978 by the Janata Party government, it was promptly reinstated in 1979. This reinstatement and subsequent expansion might lead some to mistakenly believe 1979 was the launch year. However, the original, formal, and widely recognized date of the scheme's *starting* is definitively 1975. The activities that took place in 1979 were an important *revival* and *continuation* of an already existing program, not its initial launch. Therefore, choosing 1979 overlooks the true historical beginning of ICDS.

The incorrect option is 4:

The date **2nd October, 1980** is incorrect as it is significantly later than the actual launch date of the ICDS scheme. By 1980, the Integrated Child Development Services program was not only operational but was already undergoing planned expansion across different states and community development blocks. This date would represent a phase of consolidation and growth for the scheme, rather than its initial establishment. For an exam question asking for the year the services *started*, 1980 is too late to be considered the correct historical milestone. The correct year of origin, marking the first projects under the scheme, is firmly established as 1975.