Kendrapara: As per the February guidelines issued by the State government, Anganwadi centres located outside Containment Zones start functioning from Monday.
But in Kendrapara, with over 700 Anganwadi centres not having their own building as yet, one thing is certain that the children coming to these centres will be made to sit on verandahs of nearby schools or houses.
Though the project was launched in 2019, as many as 419 Anganwadi centres’ buildings are still lying half-constructed.
According to Banambar Sahu, a social activist, various schemes and programmes starting from immunization to providing food and security to helpless elderly persons are being carried out at one Anganwadi centre in the district. If over one fourth of the total Anganwadi centres in the district are yet to have their own buildings, it is only because of bureaucratic inertia.
Another social activist, Pratap Chandra Padhi said that there are a total of 2,147 Anganwadi centres under Integrated Child Development Services programme in nine blocks of Kendrapara district. Out of them, targets have been fixed for getting construction works of 492 centres completed by the end of current financial year.
The funds required for the construction works have already been released. Yet, the construction works on 68, 46, 22, 52, 51, 32, 60, 44 and 46 Anganwadi centres in Aul, Derabish, Garadpur, Kendrapara, Mahakalpara, Marshaghai, Pattamundai, Rajkanika and Rajnagar respectively are yet to be completed.
Similarly, even though permission has been granted for construction of over hundred Anganwadi centre buildings, no progress has been made so far.
Bringing to the fore the real picture of such centres in Mahakalpara block, Pratap Kumar Tripathy, a resident, alleged that Mahakalpara block has been subjected to ‘step motherly treatment’.
Echoing the same, one Santosh Kumar Biswal, a Pattamundai resident, said, “Political interference is making the matter worse. The political parties often get entangled over various issues. They should work with a positive attitude to deliver goods to the society.”
When contacted, DSW, Chinmayee Rath said, “The funds earlier provided were not enough to get an Anganwadi centre’s building constructed. After putting this under MGNREGS, the construction works of Anganwadi centres have been sped up. If any dispute arises over land, local representatives are being consulted to sort out the issues at the earliest.”
PNN
