How can the prospect of a temple getting a makeover threaten the existence of an anganwadi? Unlikely as it may seem, the 15-year-old anganwadi centre at Gulaganjikoppa in Dharwad is now faced with such a situation.
The Government has recently released Rs. 8 lakh for the renovation of Dyamavvana Gudi (temple) at Gulaganjikoppa, which is threatening the anganwadi since it is run on the temple premises. The temple authorities are asking the anganwadi workers to shift before they start work.
‘Where do we go?'
“But where do we go? It is a difficult task to locate a suitable place for the anganwadi with a strength of 38 children. The minimum rent here is Rs. 2,000. But the Government gives only Rs. 750 per month,” says Mahadevi Hiremani, anganwadi worker.
This problem — the gap between the going building rent and the money paid by the Government for that purpose — is common to anganwadi centres which do not have their own buildings, especially in cities.
Last revised in 2007
The rent allowances, last revised in 2007, continue to be the same irrespective of the fact that prices have shot up during the last five years. The anganwadis receive a monthly rent allowance of Rs. 750 in cities and major towns, Rs. 500 in towns with 50,000 plus population and Rs. 200 in rural areas. Of the 63,000 anganwadi centres in the State, 32,000 have no building of their own.
The Gulaganjikoppa anganwadi is lucky because another temple nearby has promised to accommodate the centre, but not all may be as lucky. Several anganwadi centres like the one in Gulaganjikoppa exist at the mercy of temple authorities in the absence of a building of their own. As the renovation of temples is the order of the day, they prove to be fatal for the anganwadis.
Temples' role
Sarojini Kademani, Deputy Director, said that temples played a key role by offering their premises free of cost to open anganwadis in the 1970s and 1980s. But whenever temples are renovated, the anganwadis operating there are in trouble.
“Moreover, unlike olden days, many temples do not let out space for anganwadis after renovation, as the additional space available is used to construct building that fetch them income,” she said.
