Unless the State government addresses space constraint in anganwadis and makes proper arrangement for providing food, anganwadi workers and helpers cannot implement the Matru Poorna scheme in Dakshina Kannada, said Vishalakshi, president of Dakshina Kannada Zilla Anganwadi Karyakarteyara and Sahayakiyara Sangha on Monday. Ms. Vishalakshi, who has raised these issues in a writ petition before the Karnataka High Court, told The Hindu that most of the anganwadis in the district are in a 300 sq ft building. It was humanly impossible for the 4,000-odd anganwadi workers to handle young children and the Matru Poorna scheme beneficiaries in such a space.
She said anganwadi workers were bearing from their pocket and also taking help of donors to bear the shortfall in the expenses for food and other charges incurred for care of children aged between 7 months and three years. The meagre-earning anganwadi workers cannot be furthered burned as the unit cost (per beneficiary) of ₹21 per day for care of pregnant women and lactating mothers was too less. “We cannot go on asking donors for help. The government has to resolve these pressing issues for proper implementation of the scheme,” said Ms. Vishalakshi, who heads the sangha that claims of having majority of the 4000-odd anganwadi workers in the district as its members.
She said that there was poor response for the scheme on Monday. The beneficiaries failed to turn up at many anganwadis and they gave in writing expressing their difficulty in coming to the centre for lunch. “As none of the beneficiaries turned up at the centre, there was no question of cooking food today,” she said. The beneficiaries were in favour of old scheme by which they could cook food at their houses using the wheat, rice, and other items given every month by the anganwadis.
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