Chandigarh, July 11 -- The Punjab government will roll out a state-wide Early Childhood Development (ECD) strategy from August 1, bringing together nutrition, health, early learning and parenting support under a single framework with a special focus on the first 1,000 days (33 months) of a child's life.

Sheena Aggarwal, director of social security, women and child development, Punjab, said the initiative aimed to transform Anganwadi centres into holistic child development hubs, expanding their role beyond food distribution to include early stimulation, growth monitoring, pre-school education and parental counselling.

Officials said the strategy was based on scientific evidence showing that 75% of brain development took place during the ...