The Ministry of Women and Child Development, a branch of the Government of India, is the apex body responsible for the formulation and administration of the rules, regulations, and laws relating to women and child development in India. The incumbent minister for the Ministry of Women and Child Development is Annpurna Devi, who has held the portfolio since 2024.
The Department of Women and Child Development was set up in 1985 as a part of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to provide much-needed impetus to the holistic development of women and children. With effect from 30 January 2006, the Department was upgraded to a Ministry.[2]
Mandate
The Ministry's broad mandate is to promote the holistic development of women and children. As the central authority for advancing the welfare of women and children, the Ministry formulates plans, policies, and programs; enacts or amends legislation; and coordinates efforts between governmental and non-governmental organisations working in this field. In addition to its coordinating role, the Ministry implements innovative programs aimed at women and children. These programs focus on welfare, support services, employment training, income generation, awareness building, and gender sensitisation. They complement and supplement other general development initiatives in sectors like health, education, and rural development. Ultimately, these efforts are designed to empower women both economically and socially, ensuring they become equal partners in national development alongside men.[2]
Policy initiatives
To promote the holistic development of children, the Ministry has been implementing the world’s largest outreach program, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). This program provides a range of services, including supplementary nutrition, immunisation, health check-ups, referral services, and pre-school non-formal education. The Ministry ensures effective coordination and monitoring of various sectoral programs, many of which are run in collaboration with non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Efforts are continually made to increase the involvement of NGOs. Recent key policy initiatives by the Ministry include the universalisation of ICDS, the launch of the Kishori Shakti Yojana (a nutrition program for adolescent girls), the establishment of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights, and the enactment of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.[2]
The ministry also gives the annual Stree Shakti Puraskar in six categories, namely Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar, Kannagi Award, Mata Jijabai Award, Rani Gaidinliu Zeliang Award, Rani Lakshmi Bai Award and Rani Rudramma Devi (for both men & women).[3]
Organisation
The Ministry of Women and Child Development is headed by Annpurna Devi, the Minister, while Indevar Pandey serves as the Secretary. The Ministry’s activities are carried out through seven bureaux, and it oversees six autonomous organisations operating under its authority, four of which are the following:
National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD)
National Commission for Women (NCW)
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
References from the United Nations National Nutrition Policy, national Plan of Action for Nutrition and National Nutrition Mission.
Charitable and religious endowments pertaining to subjects allocated to this Department
Promotion and development of voluntary effort on the subjects allocated to this Department
Implementation of -
Immoral Traffic in Women and Girl Act. 1956 (as amended up to 1986) .
The Indecent Representation of Women (Prevention) Act, 1986 (60 of 1986).
The Dowry Prohibition Act. 1961 (28 of 1961)
The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 (3 of 1988), excluding the administration of criminal justice in regard to offences under these Acts.
Implementation of the Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Food (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1992 (41 of 1992).
Coordination of activities of Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE)
Planning, Research, Evaluation, Monitoring, Project Formulations, Statistics and Training relating to the welfare and development of women and children, including development of gender sensitive data base.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
