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Concerned and dismayed over 55 per cent of 15.86 crore eligible children in the age-group of 0-6 years not yet being covered under the Integrated Child Development Scheme, a parliamentary panel has recommended that Anganwadi centres should be converted into Anganwadi-cum-crèches, so that they could effectively perform their duties of curbing malnutrition among children.
Since the majority of those left out children are infants up to three years, having crèches facility will enable Anganwadis to focus on them and also help a large number of backwards section women, who work at the unorganised sector and have a pressing need for crèches. By creating social and physical infrastructure for infants under the ICDS will come as a boon for girl children too, who, in absence of creches, often drop out from schools and look after siblings and perform household work, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Empowerment of Women pointed out.
At present, there is no infrastructure in the 12.42 lakh Anganwadis spread across the country to cater to children under the age-group of 0 to3 except the provision of take-home ration.
The panel has also “deplored the sorry state of affairs” as 13,653 posts of supervisors and 88,893 Anganwaid workers are lying vacant as per the sources on September 30, 2010. These vacancies have been attributed to administrative sanctions from States/UTs, court cases and procedural delays, so the committee has asked the Government to take urgent steps to fill up these vacant posts.
The panel has expressed concern that Anganwadi workers, who apart from the huge workload of performing their own 21 functions — including providing non-formal pre-school activitites to children from 3 to 6 years, to providing health and nutritional education to young girls and pregnant/lactating mothers — have to perform non-ICDS functions like census survey and election duties also. “The committee notes with concern that every rural-based programme in the country today is put on the fragile shoulder of AWWs/AWHs. To make matter worse, some States take work from them even without paying extra or with a very nominal payment,” it said and asked the Ministry of Women and Child Development to direct States not to assign non-ICDS work to Anganwadi workers. It suggested a systematic survey should be conducted to assess the present workload and the adequacy or inadequacy of the incentive stipulated for those services. Also, the existing population norms should be revised realistically, especially in SC/ST habitation.
Disappointed over the present situation of criterion for the Anganwadi workers, where there is no minimum educational qualification prescribed despite them performing a number of functions like pre-primary education and keeping records of compliance, financial and feeding norms, the panel has also suggested that in future a minimum educational qualification of tenth standard for AWWs and 8th for AWHs be fixed so that desired objectives of the flagship programme could be achieved.
It has also recommended that a mechanism be devised for periodic review/revision of their honoraria and benefits like yearly increments and dearness allowance linked with consumer price index. This apart, health insurance schemes or ESI benefits will also be extended to all AWWs/AWHs, the panek suggested. Since there is no uniformity at present in the retirement age of AWWs/AWHs, which vary from 58 to 65 years in different States, the committee suggested that the Ministry should instruct States to fix it to be 60-years. They should also be given proper training and State Governments should set up a grievance redressal machinery for them.
Since the majority of those left out children are infants up to three years, having crèches facility will enable Anganwadis to focus on them and also help a large number of backwards section women, who work at the unorganised sector and have a pressing need for crèches. By creating social and physical infrastructure for infants under the ICDS will come as a boon for girl children too, who, in absence of creches, often drop out from schools and look after siblings and perform household work, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Empowerment of Women pointed out.
At present, there is no infrastructure in the 12.42 lakh Anganwadis spread across the country to cater to children under the age-group of 0 to3 except the provision of take-home ration.
The panel has also “deplored the sorry state of affairs” as 13,653 posts of supervisors and 88,893 Anganwaid workers are lying vacant as per the sources on September 30, 2010. These vacancies have been attributed to administrative sanctions from States/UTs, court cases and procedural delays, so the committee has asked the Government to take urgent steps to fill up these vacant posts.
The panel has expressed concern that Anganwadi workers, who apart from the huge workload of performing their own 21 functions — including providing non-formal pre-school activitites to children from 3 to 6 years, to providing health and nutritional education to young girls and pregnant/lactating mothers — have to perform non-ICDS functions like census survey and election duties also. “The committee notes with concern that every rural-based programme in the country today is put on the fragile shoulder of AWWs/AWHs. To make matter worse, some States take work from them even without paying extra or with a very nominal payment,” it said and asked the Ministry of Women and Child Development to direct States not to assign non-ICDS work to Anganwadi workers. It suggested a systematic survey should be conducted to assess the present workload and the adequacy or inadequacy of the incentive stipulated for those services. Also, the existing population norms should be revised realistically, especially in SC/ST habitation.
Disappointed over the present situation of criterion for the Anganwadi workers, where there is no minimum educational qualification prescribed despite them performing a number of functions like pre-primary education and keeping records of compliance, financial and feeding norms, the panel has also suggested that in future a minimum educational qualification of tenth standard for AWWs and 8th for AWHs be fixed so that desired objectives of the flagship programme could be achieved.
It has also recommended that a mechanism be devised for periodic review/revision of their honoraria and benefits like yearly increments and dearness allowance linked with consumer price index. This apart, health insurance schemes or ESI benefits will also be extended to all AWWs/AWHs, the panek suggested. Since there is no uniformity at present in the retirement age of AWWs/AWHs, which vary from 58 to 65 years in different States, the committee suggested that the Ministry should instruct States to fix it to be 60-years. They should also be given proper training and State Governments should set up a grievance redressal machinery for them.
