Rourkela: Though the government has set up a number of Anganwadi centres to provide pre-school training and nutritious diet to the kids, it hardly produces desired results with 70 per cent centres lacking their own buildings in tribal-dominated Sundargarh district.
Often, children are accommodated either on the verandah of an accommodating villager or in a shanty or under a tree.
Some of the centres function in such a miserable condition that children are usually reluctant to attend. At some centres, the children are served food under extremely unhygienic condition posing a risk to their health, it is alleged. According to sources at the office of the district social welfare officer, there are 2,923 Anganwadi centres and 783 mini Anganwadi centres in the district while the government has approved 88 additional centres and 15 mini centres. Despite the presence of so many centres in the district, a whopping 1,440 don’t have their own buildings.
Of the three projects – Civil Township, Industrial Estate and Rourkela City – in Rourkela town, 28 mini and 77 Anganwadi Centres don’t have their own buildings under Civil Township project while 77 centres under Industrial Estate project lack buildings. Only seven centres have their buildings under this project. Similarly, there are 160 centres under City project but only 16 have their own houses. The scenario is identical in all other blocks in the district, according to official sources.
When contacted, the district social welfare officer K Biswanath said some centres function from school verandahs, houses of Anganwadi workers and community centres as they don’t have their own building.
Several Anganwadi buildings are being constructed in a phased manner after getting government grants, he added.
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