DAYA SAGAR
Those who drafted the Constitution of India had focussed on providing requirements like health and education to every subject of India as duty of the State and now even after over 7 decades of Independence the economic conditions for a large majority of Indian population have not reached the target levels which well reflects from the hard fact that the reservations in legislature and services/ education institutions that were kept in 1950 just as above 20% for the socially and educationally backward citizens of India and that too just for 10 years have instead been forced by the conditions on ground not only for continuation even after 70 years but in addition the numbers of backward classes have increased via many more added parameters worth taking the reservations for socially / educationally backward classes/ OBCs / EWS in educational institutions/ government services to 60% or so.
No doubt among other reasons one most important reason for that has been that the Health and Education infrastructure in the Government Sector ( Public Sector) has not been able to deliver / made to deliver services to the masses atleast worth the salaries / expenditure being made out of state exchequer thereby unduly & indirectly increasing the economic cost of living of the general masses of community. There could be more reasons but had the health & education infrastructure operated through Indian public sector adequately delivered it would have made many of the economically / socially weak in the community to move to higher education institutions with reduced economic hindrances and hence further higher administrative slots, but that has not happen and may have been also the reason for needed increase for reservations both in time and quantum.
India Government had assessed acute shortage of doctors looking at the doctor population ratio in 2019-20 as something like 1:1456 against the WHO recommended level of 1:1000. Going by the ‘size’ of Indian people & extent of socio-economic compulsions/pressures in terms of increasing load of health care in bad economic pockets / rural areas it was through the Anganwari Centres also that in 1975India aimed to meet the needs for providing affordable and accessible healthcare/ pre schooling to local populations keeping in view that Anganwari workers (AWWs) can have advantage in some directions over the regular Doctors ( physicians) living in the same rural area since Anganwari workers can/ may have insight into the state of family health in the locality and assist in identifying the cause of problems and in countering them. AWW can be coached to have / may have better social skills and can therefore may more easily interact with the local people. As locals, they could be more comfortable with the local language, customs and beliefs, can get more easily acquainted with the people, and possibly can better earn the trust too.
Some may question the overall performance of the Anganwari centres but it cannot be overlooked that it has been due to the deliveries from the AWSCs that it was targeted to digitize the work of Anganwari starting with the 27 most economically disadvantaged districts in Uttar Pradesh: Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. In March 2021, Anganwari workers were even provided with a smartphone app to record data that was to be further integrated with the health ministry, which is involved in carrying out immunization, health check-ups, and nutrition education under Integrated Child Development Services. Those employed in Anganwari centre to deliver on ground are not only under paid and are woman mostly from economically weaker families but they do not have permanent job, no retirement benefits . Every day protests from Anganwari Workers are made and even politicians and NGOs are often seen conducting debates/ seminars on the requirement of Anganwadi workers. But the socio- economic handicaps of the difficulties of the AWWs were still not adequately addressed and instead AWWs were also told that failure to upload digitally-entered records could result in one’s salary and food suspension. On the other hand it was also reported that the smartphone app was being felt hard to use ( written in only English) and demanded more memory than available cheap smartphones , even with smartphones some experienced repeated app crashes, many villages lacked phone reception and adequate electricity.
No doubt in order to ensure growth monitoring of children and home visits, an incentive of Rs. 500 and Rs. 250 is being provided per month to Anganwari Workers (AWWs) and Anganwari Helpers (AWHs).
Legal and societal issues have also been reported when Anganwari-serviced children fall sick or die. There are periodic reports of corruption and crimes against women in some Anganwari centres.
As per PIB India as on 31012013 ( https://pib.gov.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=92848) as many as 13.31 lakh Anganwari and mini-Anganwari Centres (AWCs/ mini-AWCs) were operational out of 13.72 lakh sanctioned AWCs/ mini-AWCs, As on 31-12-2012 71.05% AWCs/ mini-AWCs had drinking water facilities and 50.28% AWCs/ mini-AWCs had toilet facilities . It must be kept in mind that AWC Scheme was started by GOI in 1975.
Even in 2022 if one goes by the standards of Anganwari Centre Implementation Checklist i.e AWCs having Pucca Building , AWCs own Building / Provided by State Government ,AWCs having adequate availability of Outdoor Space, AWCs having adequate availability of Indoor Space, AWCs having Drinking water facilities ,AWCs having Usable Toilet Facility ,AWCs having Separate Storage Space ,AWCs having Adequate Cooking Space , ICDS Training and AWWs receiving Job Training the AWCs on ground may be widely found lacking one or the other basic physical input.
Ofcourse the low honorarium / salary / allowances paid to AWWs and AWHs , the food/ nutrition grant per child , the operational expenses of feeding programme in the AWC and the provision of rentals for accommodation too add to handicaps in the way of quality physical achievements. In the 2022 budget the overall umbrella in budget was 0.7% more and it was reported said that 2 Lakh Anganwari Centres will be upgraded.
No doubt the scheme of AWWCs cannot be demolished and will have to be taken ahead but surely with adequate and respectable service conditions like wages and allowances for the Anganwari Workers who have very sensitive and important functions to perform almost like any other regular government employee In India since most of them come from socio economically weaker families and areas to work in the field and are only ‘woman’ folk who should not be exploited by paying ‘low’ remunerations ( honorarium) due to their economic compulsions.
Looking at large communities still needing such primitive supports , discussions have also been there to make Anganwaris available to all eligible children and mothers who need and / or may want their children be under such community care , more particularly keeping in view the socio- economic status of the working classes in the rural / sub urban India ( even in the growing dimensions of the slums / unorganised dwellings in cities due to migration of population to urban areas for employment/ bread earning ). Number of AWWs may go upto 15 to 20 Lakh keeping in view the socio economic needs of our people that exist on date.
(The author is Sr Journalist, social activist and analyst J&K affairs dayasagr45@yahoo.com)