Integrated Child Development Services in India through its supplementary nutrition programme covers over 100 million children, pregnant and lactating women across the country. Providing a hot cooked meal each day to children aged between 3-6 years and a take-home ration to children aged between 6-36 months, pregnant and lactating women, the Integrated Child Development Services faces a monumental task to deliver this component of services of desired quality and regularity at scale. From intermediaries or contractors who acted as agents for procuring and distributing food to procurement directly from large food manufacturers to using women groups as food producers, different State Governments have adopted a variety of strategies to procure and distribute food, especially the take-home ration. India's Supreme Court, through its directive of 2004, encouraged the Government to engage women's groups for the production of the supplementary food. This study was conducted to determine the operational performance, economic sustainability and social impact of a decentralised production model for India's Supplementary Nutrition Program, in which women groups run smallscale industrialised units. Data were collected through observation, interviews and group discussions with key stakeholders. Operational performance was analysed through standard performance indicators that measured consistency in production, compliance with quality standards and distribution regularity. Assessment of the economic viability included cost structure analysis, five-year projections, and financial ratios. Social impact was assessed using a qualitative approach. The pilot unit has demonstrated its operational performance and cost-efficiency. More data is needed to evaluate the scalability and sustainability of this decentralised model.
印度整合兒童發展服務的營養補充計畫，涵蓋全國超過1 億名的兒童、孕婦及 哺乳婦。每天供應3-6 歲的兒童一餐熱食，6-36 個月的幼兒、懷孕婦女及哺乳 婦則提供可帶回家的口糧，整合兒童服務面臨提供一個包含品質、規律性及相 當規模的服務的艱鉅任務。不同的州政府採用多種採購及分發食物策略，特別 是帶回家的口糧，代理採購或分發食物的中間商或承包商，從由女性團體為食 品製造者的大型食品製造廠直接採購。印度最高法院，透過2004 年的指示， 鼓勵政府聘僱女性團體生產補充食物。印度營養補充計畫是女性團體經營的小 規模工廠的去集中化生產模式，本研究旨在評估其營運績效、經濟的永續性以 及對社會影響。透過觀察、訪談、及與利害關係者的小組討論收集資料。營運 績效是透過分析包括產品的一致性、符合品質標準的程度及分送規律等標準績 效指標。經濟生存力的評估包含成本結構分析、五年預測及財務比率。以質性 方法評估社會影響。前驅研究已證實它的營運績效及成本效益。需要更多的資 料來評估這個去集中化模式的擴展性及永續性。