Anganwadi

India is one of the fastest growing economies in today’s world. In fact it is estimated that in the next three decades India will emerge as one of the biggest super power in the world. India’s rank on the Human development index is however a 119 out of 169 countries.

Quality of and accessibility to health and education facilities is one of the main challenges bombarding the country today. Due to this India has come to become a nation with one of the largest population of malnourished and hunger-stricken people in the world. In addition to this the country also suffers from a high rate of infant mortality rate.

In order to fight these challenges, the Government of India in 1975 initiated the integrated child development services (ICDS). It is a scheme which focuses on fixing things at the state level rather than having a national level solution which would definitely be less effective. The scheme addresses health issues of small children all over the country. It is one of the largest child care programmes in the world that aims at eradicating child hunger, malnutrition and related issues. Under this scheme, a person is appointed who expected to act as a link between the people and organized healthcare so as to ensure that the health and educational needs of children between the age of 0 and 6 are met. This appointed person is referred to as the Anganwadi worker.^[1]

The word Anganwadi means "courtyard shelter" in Hindi. They were started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services program to combat child hunger and malnutrition.

System of workers

The Anganwadi system is mainly managed by the Anganwadi worker. She is a health worker chosen from the community and given 4 months training in health, nutrition and child-care. She is incharge of an Anganwadi which covers a population of 1000. 20 to 25 Anganwadi workers are supervised by a Supervisor called Mukhyasevika. 4 Mukhyasevikas are headed by a Child Development Projects Officer (CDPO).

There are an estimated 1.053 million anganwadi centers employing 1.8 million mostly-female workers and helpers across the country. They provide outreach services to poor families in need of immunization, healthy food, clean water, clean toilets and a learning environment for infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers. They also provide similar services for expectant and nursing mothers. According to government figures, anganwadis reach about 58.1 million children and 10.23 million pregnant or lactating women.

Anganwadis are India's primary tool against the scourges of child malnourishment, infant mortality and curbing preventable diseases such as polio. While infant mortality has declined in recent years, India has the world's largest population of malnourished or under-nourished children. It is estimated that about 47% of children aged 0–3 are under-nourished per international standards.

Children from poor (Below Poverty Line) families, especially those from Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, are considered most at-risk. Anganwadi means courtyard. Under the Integrated Child Development Scheme, one anganwadi worker is allotted to a population of 1000. Anganwadi worker is trained in various aspects of health, nutrition and child development. The duties of anganwadi worker are - • Regular health check-up. • Immunization. • Health education. • Non-formal pre-school education.

Challenges and solutions

There have been public policy discussions over whether to make anganwadis universally available across the country to all eligible children and mothers. This would require significant increases in budgetary allocation and a rise in anganwadis centers to over 1.6 million.

Anganwadis are staffed by officers and their helpers, who are typically women from poor families. The workers do not have permanent jobs with comprehensive retirement benefits like other government staff. Worker protests (by the All India Anganwadi Workers Federation) and public debates on this topic are ongoing. There are periodic reports of corruption and crimes against women in some anganwadi centers. There are legal and societal issues when anganwadi-serviced children fall sick or die.

In announcing the 2008-2009 Budget, Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram stated that salaries would be increased for anganwadi workers to Rs 1500 per month and helpers to Rs 750 per month. In March 2008 there is debate about whether packaged foods, such as biscuits, should become part of the food served. Detractors, including Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen, disagreed saying it will become the only food consumed by the children. Options for increasing partnership with the private sector are continuing.

In his budget speech for the financial year 2011-12, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee increased the salary for Anganwadi workers to Rs 3000 per month and helpers to Rs 1500 per month.

Recently some NGO's have started working in collaboration with these anganwadies in order to contribute to their work.One of such is www.bhookh.com which donates staple food in anganwadies on per click basis of internet donators.

International efforts

Unicef and the UN Millennium Development Goals of reducing infant mortality and improving maternal care are the impetus for increasing focus on the Anganwadis.

Workers and helpers are expected to be trained per WHO standards.