: Lauding the expansion of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in West Bengal and Bihar, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen on Monday pointed out inadequacies in infrastructure.

Professor Sen, who was present at the launch of The Pratichi Child Report II- ICDS in West Bengal and Bihar, said that progress has also been made in the way people are recognising ICDS services as their right.

“There are certain shortcomings, and solutions are clear on how these can be addressed. Every ICDS facility should have a building of its own and have access to clean drinking water,” Professor Sen said.

Referring to the shortcoming in the implementation of ICDS services aimed at improving nutritional status of children, pregnant and lactating mothers, the Economist has written in foreword of the report that 36 per cent of ICDS centres in West Bengal and 80 per cent centres in Bihar do not have toilets.

The figures have been arrived on the basis of a survey conducted by Professor Sen’s Pratichi Trust across 22 centres in six districts of Bengal and 30 centres in five districts of Bihar.

“About half the centres do not have access to safe drinking water in West Bengal, and the proportion is only a little less in Bihar,” Professor Sen says in the foreword.

The report states that compared to 2006 when the number of ICDS centres in West Bengal was 54,961, there was an increase of 112 per cent by 2014 as the number of centres increased to 1,16,390.

In Bihar, the increase during the same period was 59 per cent.

Focus on children below 6 years of age

Speaking at the event, Asokendu Sengupta, chairperson of State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said West Bengal government has set up a council and governing body of Early Childhood Care and Education Centre (ECCE) to ensure that children below six years are also benefited. Since the Right to Education Act guarantees free and compulsary education to children between six to 14 years of age, many experts feel that children below six years are left out.