Bhawanipatna: Given the way Anganwadi centres are functioning in parts of Kalahandi district, it is apparent that the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) has gone for a toss, a report said.
According to the report, most of the Anganwadi centres are either run in rented houses, under trees or with temporary arrangements, even though the government is providing a lot of funds for infrastructural development.
Anganwadi centres play a crucial role in pre-school education, nutrition, vaccination of kids and even healthcare, nutrition and vaccination of expectant and post delivery women.
There are 2,268 Anganwadi and mini Anganwadi centres in the district.
Of them, about 1,000 AWCs do not have houses of their own. In remote areas under T. Rampur, Lanjigarh, and M Rampur, most of the AWCs are functioning from rented houses, under trees and verandahs of schools.
It was learnt that the district administration has provided funds for construction of buildings of many Anganwadi centres. But due to apathy of the Women and Child Development department, buildings of these centres have remained incomplete over years.
A case in point is the Juanga Anganwadi centre in Karlapat panchayat. The Rural Development department provided Rs 5 lakh for its building five years ago. The work of the building has not progressed beyond the plinth level foundation.
As the AWC has no building of its own, it is run on the verandah of a person’s house in the same village. Locals lamented on the sorry state of the AWCs while the department concerned has failed to carry forward the work.
They suspected that the AWC building might have been shown as complete in official records while funds might have been misappropriated. The villagers have demanded an investigation into the utilization of the funds. Same is that condition of scores of other AWCs in the district.
PNN