1/4th of Anganwadi centres in Odisha do not have a building of their own

Despite generous flow of funds from the centre, around one fourth of Anganwadi centres (AWCs) of the State do not have permanent buildings for the tiny tots under the integrated child development scheme.

As a result, these Centres are functioning either in rented houses or in makeshift accommodation.

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The State has 74,224 functional Anganwadi centers out of which 54,074 centers have their own buildings while 20,150 have no buildings of which construction of 7,389 Centres is underway, Women & Child Development Minister Pravati Parida, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister, told the in the State Assembly on Saturday.

Rs 39.86 crore have been granted for construction of AWC buildings in joint coordination with revenue and disaster management department and panchayati raj departments. Meanwhile, 10,416 mini-AWC centres have been merged with main centres to optimize resources and streamline operations.

The funds are being sanctioned to districts in phases, along with a security deposit to cover the cost of electricity from the nearest supply source, she said, adding that the Government has decided to upgrade the infrastructure of AWCs in a phased manner.

The Collectors of all districts have been asked to monitor the expeditious completion of new AWC buildings in coordination with Block Development Officers, Zilla Parishad Executive Officers, District Social Welfare Officers and Child Development Programme Officers, she added.

Balasore district at 1,755 has the highest numbers of building-less AWCs followed by Cuttack (1,524), and Ganjam (1,356).