Kaptipada: Given mishaps in several Anganwadi centres in the past, the state government has been renovating many of them, but over a dozen are run in dilapidated houses in tribal-dominated Kaptipada block in Mayurbhanj district.
Worse, 65 Anganwadi centres do not have their own premises while children and Anganwadi workers have been facing multiple problems over the years.
Such poor and lack of infrastructure has scuttled the objectives of the Anganwadi centres – pre-schooling of children, supplementary nutrition programme and immunization of pregnant and lactating women — in rural areas.
Reports said, 26 panchayats under this block have been split into eight sectors under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme. There are 224 Anganwadi centres and 94 mini Anganwadi centres in the block. Of them, 167 have own premises while 25 Anganwadi centres are in a dilapidated state.
The state government and the Women and Child Development Department have long ago directed all the SDPOs to identify Anganwadi centres that are in precarious condition. Those centres should have been renovated to ensure safety of children and Anganwadi workers.
In this block, some centres that are in bad state have been closed and are run in nearby schools. Construction of many Anganwadi centres has been moving at a snail’s pace due to lack of monitoring by coordinators and contractors.
Some centres are run in thatched houses and some on the verandas of private houses. In such cases, Anganwadi workers allege that they have to face a lot of problems in stocking medicines, food stuff, toys, teaching aids and cooking food.
Some Anganwadis do not have provision for safe drinking water while their supervisors have no quarters for stay.
Meanwhile, the ICDS authorities say the area is so vast that they need to split it into more sectors for managing and monitoring the centres. The department has been given suggestions to make five more sectors.
CDPO Mitarani Basa admitted that some centres are unfit for use for lack of maintenance. Some centres are being constructed under BRGF, IAP, State Plan and MGNREGA while the posts of six Anganwadi workers and two assistants will be filled up, she added.