2.2. How Anganwadis/Salvatika can be expanded/strengthened in your area?
Answers
Explanation:
- An Anganwadi centre provides basic health care facilities in Indian villages. It is a part of the Indian public health-care system
- They were started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services(ICDS) program to combat child hunger and malnutrition.
- Anganwadi is a government-sponsored child-care and mother-care development programmes in India at the village level.
4. According to government data, the country has 13.77 lakh AWCs. These centres have undoubtedly expanded their reach, but they need to play a much larger role in anchoring community development. Nearly a fourth of the operational AWCs lack drinking water facilities and 36 per cent do not have toilets. In 2015, the NITI Aayog recommended better sanitation and drinking water facilities, improved power supply and basic medicines for the AWCs. It also suggested that these centres be provided with the required number of workers, whose skills should be upgraded through regular training.
5 ICDS beneficiaries do register for services but because the anganwadis lack adequate facilities, they turn to paid options. Privately-run centres come at a price, hitting low-income families the hardest. A study on utilisation of ICDS services in coastal Karnataka reported enrolment in private nursery schools as a major reason for non-adherence to ICDS services. It also reported the need for improvement in the quality of meals provided by the programme.
6 AWCs clearly do not seem to provide the environment that encourages parents to leave children at these centres. Only a limited number of AWCs have facilities like creche, and good quality recreational and learning facilities for pre-school education. Research has shown the significance of the playing-based learning approach in the cognitive development of children. An approach that combines an effective supplementary nutrition programme with pedagogic processes that make learning interesting is the need of the hour.
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Effective implementation of the ICDS programme rests heavily on the combined efforts of the anganwadi workers (AWWs), ASHAs and ANMs. But not much has been done to improve the career prospects and service conditions of these frontline workers. Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu are amongst the states that have done relatively better in this respect. The Centre’s POSHAN Abhiyaan has taken important steps towards building capacities of AWWs. It is important that a more robust mechanism is now created to regularly assess and plug knowledge gaps.
Technology can also be used for augmenting the programme’s quality. AWWs have been provided with smartphones and their supervisors with tablets, under the government schemes. Apps on these devices track the distribution of take-home rations and supplementary nutrition services. The data generated should inform decisions to improve the programme. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, anganwadi centres have been geotagged to improve service delivery. Gujarat has digitised the supply chain of take-home rations and real-time data is being used to minimise stockouts at the anganwadi centres.
The Centre has acknowledged the need to improve anganwadi centres. Its Saksham Anganwadi Scheme aims to upgrade 2.5 lakh such centres across the country. It is up to the state governments to take up the baton.
Our analysis of ICDS shines a light on three imperatives. First, while infrastructure development and capacity building of the anganwadi remains the key to improving the programme, the standards of all its services need to be upscaled. Second, states have much to learn from each other’s experiences. Third, anganwadi centres must cater to the needs of the community and the programme’s workers.
This article first appeared in the print edition on December 10, 2020 under the title ‘The Smart Anganwadi’. Anand is National Team Leader and Verma, Research, Content and Documentation Officer, We Collaborate for Nutrition — a nutrition coalition
Answer:
An Anganwadi centre provides basic health care facilities in Indian villages. It is a part of the Indian public health-care system
They were started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services(ICDS) program to combat child hunger and malnutrition.
Anganwadi is a government-sponsored child-care and mother-care development programmes in India at the village level.
Explanation: