Government buildings for Anganwadi centres urged

Kurnool: Most of the Anganwadi centres in the district are functioning in rented buildings and some of the rented buildings are in miserable condition as they lack proper ventilation and power supply.

Children in these type of centres have been facing lot of problems. There are 3,486 Anganwadi and 62 mini centres functioning under 16 integrated child development scheme (ICDS) projects across the state. And about 3.88 lakh children are registered at these centres.

Among these, 1,255 Anganwadi centres are functioning in own buildings which include 467 centres functioning in government schools or government buildings. In total 1,827 centres do not have own buildings. In Panyam, three centres have been merged into one and there are 45 children in the centre. It is run in rented building on monthly rent of Rs 1,000.

The government has stopped sanctioning rent and power bills besides gas bill for the past some months. The electricity department has stopped power supply and children are languishing in darkness. The organisers have been paying rent from their salary. Even the teachers are also not paid Travelling Allowance (TA) and Dearness Allowance (DA) for the last two years, sources said.

It is expected that the Anganwadi centres have to impart education to children of 6 years through playing. But due to lack of facilities at the Anganwadi centres, the children are forced to quit the centres.

The rented buildings do not have facilities like play ground, kitchen, class room, bathroom etc. With the amount of Rs.1,000 it is not be possible to have these facilities. The parents of the children are urging the government to take necessary steps to run the Anganwadi centres in own buildings or provide facilities at the rented buildings.