Minister of State for Women & Child Development, Smt Krishna Raj has conveyed that there is a three-tier training structure for the training of various field functionaries under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, viz., (i) Anganwadi Workers Training Centres (AWTCs) for the training of Anganwadi Workers and Anganwadi Helpers located at the district/block level; (ii) Middle Level Training Centres (MLTCs) for the training of Supervisors and hatInstructors of AWTCs located mostly at the district level; and (iii) National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) at New Delhi and its four Regional Centres at Guwahati, Lucknow, Bangalore and Indore for training of Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs)and Instructors of MLTCs.
Currently, there are around 487 Anganwadi Training Centres operating in the country for around 13.53 Lakh operational AWCs.
The identification of the Organizations/Institutions for imparting training to Supervisors and Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) is the sole responsibility of respective State Governments/UT Administrations. Further, the identification/ selection of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs)/Voluntary Organizations (VOs) for imparting training to Supervisors and Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) rests with respective State Governments/UT Administrations where there is no Training Centre run by the State Governments/UT Administrations. The ICDS Training Programme is implemented by the States/UTs through AWTCs/MLTCs run either by themselves or through NGOs.
Under the Digital India Programme, an online training portal has been launched on 25th May 2016 for the ICDS functionaries, professionals working in the area of health and nutrition, child development, child protection, women issues, paramedics, like nurses, dieticians, students of home science colleges, medical professionals, trainers of training institutes, like, MLTCs/AWTCs and general public. The e-Learning portal is free of cost interactive portal with standardized curriculum, user friendly and a self-study platform.
MWCD has formulated Comprehensive Guidelines on AWTCs/MLTCs. The Government of India releases funds to the State Governments/UT Administrations for implementation of the ICDS Training Programme as per their requirements projected under the State Training Annual Plan (STRAP).