There are seven Anganwadi centers in Penha de Franca, and barring one or two, their condition is pitiable. Parents from poor families leave their children at these centres, where there are cockroaches and mice for company.
The centres are run under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and they provide supplementary food to children, pregnant women, young mothers and adolescent girls. Some centers are more than 20 years old and most are covered with asbestos sheets.
Additionally, the centers are surrounded by garbage and sewage. This had led to an increase in the number of mosquitoes, which are unbearable for the children.
The condition of Anganwadi center number 57, which started in the year 2006, was initially housed in a small room of 12 sq mts in Pundalik Nagar. The room was covered with asbestos sheets and lacked electricity and toilets, while the rent was Rs 1,000. Since the owner issued a notice to vacate the premises, this centre was shifted to a house in the Housing Board colony in November 2015.
The in-charge of this Anganwadi centre, Jeevan Shet, stated that the house owner had given her this house for six months only on rent of Rs 3,000. There are 25 students on roll. For the rent, she gets only Rs 200 from the government, while the panchayat pays her Rs 600. The balance she has to pay from her own pocket.
“It is very difficult to get premises in Porvorim for less than Rs 3,000 per month. Since I cater to 250 beneficiaries, including pregnant women, young mothers and adolescent girls, I required bigger space than others. This is social work, and hence, the government should view my case sympathetically and provide space in government quarters,” said Shet.
The condition of Anganwadi center number 64 in Vidhyanagar, which was started in 1990, has to be seen to be believed. The roof of the 10 sq mts center is covered with asbestos sheets and there is no window for this room, which is infested with rodents. There is an electrical connection, but since mice have tampered with the wiring, the fan and the bulb have become non-functional. The surroundings are also unhygienic.
Shoba Gondhali, who is running this center, stated that many parents took their children away due to the pathetic condition of the structure. She further said, “When I receive the stock of food grains from the State government for distribution to pregnant women, nursing mothers and adolescent girls, the room gets packed and children do not get space to sit. We get only Rs 200 for rent from the government. It is not possible to get a good room on rent in Porvorim.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Women and Child Development Dilip Parulekar stated that the expenses of rent, wages for a worker and a helper in each centre are borne by the State government, which is aware of the condition of some of the Anganwadis in Goa.
“Since this is a scheme of the Centre, the State government cannot increase the rent of the Anganwadi .The State government has already increased the wages of the Anganwadi teachers. In Maharashtra and other states, the Anganwadi teachers get wages of Rs 3,000 only, but in Goa they get wages ranging from Rs 10,000 to 16,000 per month. If the in-charge of the Anganwadi centers, with the assistance of the local MLA, identifies an area of around 70 to 100 sq mts on comunidade or government land, then the government is prepared to construct a new Anganwadi center,” said Parulekar.
He added, “In the last three-and-a-half years, the government constructed around 40 Anganwadi centres in Goa. It has made a provision in the budget to construct such centers.”
