No food for kids at Mukandpur anganwadi

Satinder Pal Singh

Dera Bassi, February 22

Though the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) is one of the many ambitious flagship programmes taken up by the Government of India, the scheme has not been able to deliver its stated objectives in Dera Bassi.

The Angawandi centre at Mukandpur village is unable to feed nutritious food to children enrolled there which is against the guidelines. The centre running from Gujjar Bhawan has 54 students enrolled with it.

As per the information available from the sources at the centre, children coming here are not getting any food since January. Since the centre ran out of food grains last year, only 'panjeeri' was being served to the children in December. In January, they ran out of 'panjeeri' also. The guidelines specify that not only children, but pregnant women and nursing mothers too should be given nutritious food.

An anganwadi centre is supposed to provide nutritious food and pre-school education to children of 0-6 year age-group under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. But a visit to the centre by this correspondent defies all the rules laid out as they lack even basic amenities. The centre is without a toilet and the anganwadi workers and children are compelled to relieve themselves in open.

On the condition of anonymity, the sources alleged that they have made repeated representations to the officials concerned and even to village sarpanch to construct a toilet but no fruitful measures have been taken up in this regard till date. The other major issue is the availability of drinking water. With no facility of potable water, the workers have to go to nearby houses for water.

Apart from this, the anganwadi centre sans boundary wall. The condition is exposing the negligence of the authorities concerned towards the anganwadi centre and the security of the workers and even children.

Inderjeet Kaur, Child Development Programme Officer, Dera Bassi, said they have written about it to the authorities concerned and have got an assurance that it would be resolved soon.