In addition to the nutrition supplement given to children in Anganwadi centres across the State, the government is also considering a proposal to extend the mid-day meal scheme to them.
Minister for Woman Development and Child Welfare Sunitha Laxma Reddy disclosed this after releasing a book on Integrated Child Development Services authored by retired IAS officer K. R. Vengugopal here on Monday.
The proposal was already discussed with the School Education Minister for implementing mid-day meal scheme to 80,481 children in the main centres and 10,826 children in smaller centres under 387 ICDA projects, she said. A final decision would be taken after discussing the proposal with the Chief Minister.
Another proposal under active consideration of the government was to extend the timings of the Anganwadi centres till 4 p.m. and turn them into Balwadi centres. At present, the timings of the Anganwadi centres are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
She said measures were being taken to remove irregularities and improve services in providing education, health and nutritious food for children through Anganwadi centres properly and in time and give boost to woman and child welfare programmes.
The department after consulting with Medical and Health Department would initiate steps to provide better food and health services for the pregnant women in the centres.
State ranked fifth
The State was ranked fifth in implementation of Anganwadi services and their target was to bring it to the top position in the country, Ms. Reddy said.