With an aim to ensure that four lakh anganwadis have their own child-friendly buildings by 2019, the government has decided to build one lakh such centres every year over the next four years.
With an aim to ensure that four lakh anganwadis have their own child-friendly buildings by 2019, the government has decided to build one lakh such centres every year over the next four years. As of now, around 70 per cent anganwadis are run from rented premises. The women and child development ministry has already written to the department of rural development for amending the construction guidelines for anganwadi centres to provide for building one lakh centres each year for four years to meet the shortage. The earlier proposal was to set up 50,000 AWCs a year in 2,534 most backward blocks in 11 states which have high malnutrition. “There is an acute shortage of anganwadi buildings even outside high-burden districts. A need was felt to include other areas too,” said a WCD official.
The scheme would be funded partly from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and partly from the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) budget. “Expenditure up to Rs 5 lakh will be borne by Rural Development Department under MGNREGA scheme and beyond it by WCD from its ICDS programme,” the official said.
The ministry has issued guidelines for construction of children- friendly centers, stating that the centres should have infrastructure like sitting room for children, kitchen, toilets and a minimum of 600 square feet space for playing.
The ministry has also suggested using local material for construction depending on the geo-climatic conditions of the area. There are 13.4 lakh angwandis across the country of which more than 12 lakh do not have their own buildings.
