The Finance Minister Shri P.Chidambaram has commended the Integrated Child Development Scheme(ICDS) for being able to spend the entire amount of Rs. 15,850 crore provided in 2012-13. In recognition of the needs of children, the Minister proposed to allocate Rs. 17,700 crore in 2013-14, representing an increase of 11.7 percent, while underlining that the focus will continue to be on early childhood care and education. He said that the maternal and child malnutrition in a country with abundant foodgrains is a shame that we must overcome. A multi-sectoral proramme that was announced last year will be implemented in 100 districts during 2013-14 with an allocation of Rs. 300 crore and it will be scaled up to cover 200 districts the year after.

Shri Chidambaram said, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission(JNNURM) is being continued in the 12th plan. The 14,000 buses sanctioned during 2009 to 2012 have made a big contribution to urban transport. The Minister announced a sum of Rs. 14,873 crore for JNNURM, as against Rs. 7,383 crore in the current year. Out of this, a significant portion will be used to support the purchase of up to 10,000 buses, especially by the hill States.

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DSM/SNC/AKA/35

(Release ID :92736)

Budget allocation boosts child nutrition programmes and urban renewal funding, enabling district nutrition pilots and expanded bus procurement. The budget increases ICDS funding to strengthen early childhood care and targets maternal and child malnutrition via a multi sectoral, mission mode district pilot with planned scale up; separately, JNNURM receives a substantially larger allocation prioritising urban transport, including earmarked support for the procurement of thousands of buses, especially for hill States.