The Finance department has given its nod to a project to uplift 129 mini anganwadis in the State to the status of main anganwadis.
An amount of ₹1.14 crore would be needed to implement the project, a statement quoting Minister for Finance K.N. Balagopal said on Saturday. Once these were transformed into main anganwadis, the services of anganwadi helpers besides workers would be ensured. There would also be an increase in the pay of the anganwadi workers.
The pay of the anganwadi helpers and facilities in the units such as furniture would also have to be arranged. Mini anganwadi workers ensured that the health and nutrition levels of women and children in their area was maintained, the Minister said. They also had additional duties such as cleaning the anganwadi premises, collecting provisions for the children’s food, and ensuring their hygiene.
An uplift in the status of mini anganwadis and the services of anganwadi helpers would improve the functioning of mini anganwadis, he said.
At present, there are 33,115 anganwadis functioning in the State. The Union government had directed that the functioning of mini anganwadis among these 33,115 anganwadis should be stopped.
Most of the mini anganwadis function in areas where people belong to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other backward communities. These were sanctioned on the basis of the population prior to 2010. The number of beneficiaries in areas under their jurisdiction was more than 1,000, and owing to this, the State government had adopted the stand that the mini anganwadis could not be stopped, the statement from the Minister’s office said.
