Women and Child Development Ministry shuts down two of its autonomous bodies

The Women and Child Development Ministry has shut down two autonomous bodies that function under it, as well as an internal division, sources privy to the matter said. This includes the autonomous bodies Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) and Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB), as well as the internal division Food and Nutrition Board (FNB).

Ministry sources said that this was done as part of the rationalisation exercise called for by the finance ministry. The WCD ministry sent a proposal to this end, which was accepted in a Cabinet meeting held on April 6 this year. “These closures are part of the rationalisation exercise by the Centre to shut down departments and sections that no longer have relevance in the current scenario,” a senior ministry official told DH.

Also Read: 9 states, UTs to directly run integrated child helplines from month-end

RMK and CSWB are among the six autonomous bodies under the WCD ministry; the others being the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), National Commission for Women (NCW), National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).

The RMK was launched in 1993 to extend collateral-free credit to women in the informal sector. It was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. It must be added that the report on ‘Rationalisation of Government Bodies’ by the Principal Economic Adviser to the Government of India submitted in November 2020, had recommended the closure of RMK as it has lost its relevance. The report said that it was due to the availability of several credit finance options, including microcredit facilities, to women especially with Central government schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana and PM Mudra Yojana. The move will help in avoiding duplicity, the report said.

To this end, responding to a Parliamentary question in February this year, WCD minister Smriti Irani said that, while RMK provides microfinance services to the needy and poor women in the informal sector “through a client-friendly, without collateral security and third-party guarantee”, because there are “substantial alternative credit facilities”, the RMK has lost its “relevance and utility”. The ministry, she had said, will shut down the RMK.

The CSWB, a charitable company formed in 1953, was one of the first efforts by the Indian government to build a body on the principle of voluntarism, which would work on social issues like a non-governmental organisation. It was registered under section 25 of the Indian Companies Act 1956, but sources said that the body has largely been defunct for a while. It aimed to promote social welfare organisations, study their needs and provide technical and financial aid to Panchayati Raj institutions.

The Food & Nutrition Board (FNB), set up in 1964, is an attached office of the Ministry of Women & Child Development. Originally with Ministry of Food, the FNB was shifted to Ministry of Women and Child Development in 1993. It has four regional offices and quality control laboratories at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, in addition to 43 community units in 29 states and UTs.

The budgetary allocation for CSWB in 2022-2023 was Rs 37.74 crore, which was revised to Rs 50.41 crore. The allocation for 2023-24 is Rs Rs 40.06 crore. For the FNB, Rs 9 crore was set aside in 2022-23, which was revised to Rs 17.99 crore. This year, Rs 18 crore was set aside for FNB. There has been no allocation for RMK in 2023-24.