ECCD in India

Young children require care and nurture to grow into healthy and productive citizens. While there is extensive research showing the critical importance of interventions for children under six years, they are still a neglected group in public policy and action in developing countries like India. With high and stagnant levels of malnutrition in South Asia, including India, there is now an increasing focus among researchers, policy makers and development professionals across the world on what needs to be done for children of this age group in a country like India. The present paper builds a case for funding initiatives in the field of early childhood care and development (ECCD) in India. It is seen that India has an extensive network of public programmes to address ECCD needs in the country. However these are largely ineffective and need major overhauling. An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the existing programmes and studying successful experiences both within the government and the non-government sectors in India, can throw some light on the strategies that need to be undertaken to ensure ECCD for all children in the country.