The two-day National ECCE & Education Conclave, organised by Odisha’s Women and Child Development Department, in collaboration with Rocket Learning, concluded today at Bhubaneswar, with a strong emphasis on interdepartmental convergence and collective action to strengthen Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in the state.
The second day of the conclave brought together senior government officials from key departments, including Women and Child Development, School and Mass Education, Higher Education, and ST & SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare, to deliberate on an integrated approach towards the holistic development of children aged 0–6 years.
The discussions focused on strengthening institutional collaboration, aligning departmental priorities and building a coordinated framework to ensure that every child receives quality nutrition, healthcare, nurturing care and early learning opportunities during the foundational years.
Interdepartmental convergence for holistic child development
Dr Mrinalini Darswal, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Women and Child Development Department, Government of Odisha, highlighted the importance of collective efforts across departments in advancing the state’s ECCE agenda.
A key highlight of the session was a high-level roundtable discussion involving different stakeholders. The roundtable provided a platform for senior officials to deliberate on opportunities for interdepartmental collaboration, convergence of existing programmes and strengthening institutional mechanisms to support early childhood development across Odisha.
Strengthening convergence through collective departmental action
The discussion brought together Dr Mrinalini Darswal, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Women and Child Development Department; N. Thirumala Naik, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, School and Mass Education Department; B. Parameswaran, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, ST & SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Department; Aravind Agrawal, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Higher Education Department; Madhusmita Sahoo, Director, SCERT; Monisha Banerjee, IAS, Director, ICDS & SW, Women and Child Development Department.
The deliberations focused on strengthening convergence across departments and identifying opportunities for coordinated action to support the state’s early childhood development priorities. The discussion also emphasised the importance of aligning departmental efforts, leveraging existing institutional platforms and establishing shared ownership to build a comprehensive ecosystem for children in their foundational years.
Way Forward: Charting Odisha’s strategic priorities
The session focused on identifying key action points and strategic priorities emerging from the two-day deliberations, providing direction for strengthening the state’s ECCE ecosystem through sustained interdepartmental collaboration and coordinated implementation.
The two-day National ECCE & Education Conclave reaffirmed Odisha’s commitment to placing early childhood development at the centre of its development agenda. It highlighted that ensuring every child’s holistic development requires a continuum of care built on quality health and nutrition, responsive caregiving, early stimulation, play-based learning, an empowered Anganwadi workforce, active parental participation and strong convergence across government departments.
The conclave marked an important step towards building a shared vision and collective commitment among government institutions and development partners to strengthen early childhood care and education and secure a stronger foundation for every child in Odisha.
