Guest Lecture by Mr. Ritwik Shukla, Research Associate, Centre for Policy Research

Topic: Policy Implementation Research on ICDS and NHM: Processes, Bottlenecks, and Challenges

Bio:
Mr. Shukla is a researcher at the Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. He works on governance processes linked to delivery in the social sector, with a focus on education, health, and nutrition. He is responsible for implementation research, dissemination to the public, and conducting sessions as a part of learning and development courses. His research interests include political economy, public goods, and development.
Ritwik holds a postgraduate degree in economics from the Delhi School of Economics.

Talk Synopsis:
Essential. Universalized. At Scale. These words define India’s core centrally sponsored schemes focussed on health and nutrition – the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and the National Health Mission (NHM). These schemes are responsible for the delivery of key services, especially for women and children. Yet across India, only 1 of 2 pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children under 6 received supplementary nutrition, a core service under ICDS (NFHS-4, 2015-16). The mechanisms and processes for delivery of such interventions are complex, often playing a decisive role in the success and failure of the sector to meet the ambitious targets set by the National Nutrition Mission. In this session, the following questions will be discussed:
What are the various processes in the delivery of essential nutrition interventions?
What is the current status of delivery and what are the bottlenecks preventing efficient service delivery?
Where do we go from here, what evidence do we need, and is evidence enough?