Tamil Nadu - Erode   

For these 30 children, sky is the roof

— Photo: M. Govarthan

Give us space: Children of the anganwadi at Krishnampalayam, Erode.

ERODE: Thirty young ones at the anganwadi (Government-run child-care centres) at Krishnampalayam, it appears, are children of lesser gods. And unfortunately for them, the Government too has been not so kind.

Aged between two-and-half and five years, the children sit a little away from an open drain, on a septic tank with sky as their roof to take initial lessons and have healthy, nutritious food at the anganwadi.

As a consolation, however, they have a false roof, which is nothing but a branch from a neighbouring tree, which out of love has reached out to the children.

Rain or shine, the children will spend the next few years, as they had for the last seven years, at the anganwadi before enrolling at a nearby Government school in Standard I. A couple of yards away from the children is the anganwadi’s kitchen, which again has sky as the roof. For long, the teacher at the anganwadi has been trying to rent a building. The moment she does, the attempt may perhaps fetch her an entry at record books, for she will have to do so within Rs. 50, which is the amount the Government pays as rent. There is no provision for paying any ‘advance’, though.

On the food front too, there is something ‘interesting’. The Government has fixed 44.5 paise a child as the limit for expenditure on vegetables, a few provisions and firewood. Rice, dhal and a few other items are supplied to the anganwadi, though.

Sources say the amount fixed for a child is too low and that the requirements cannot be met. In many anganwadis, teachers spend out of their pockets to buy firewood. This is Integrated Child Development Scheme for you, funded by the Centre and implemented by the State Government.

Besides supporting the children, cooks at anganwadis have another task - that of providing nutrition supplements to pregnant women. After enumerating pregnant women in an area, anganwadi workers give 100 g of flour balls, starting from six months before delivery to six months after delivery.

The cooking for preparing the flour balls happens at anganwadi kitchens.

Now, back to the problems at the Krishnampalayam anganwadi. Sources at the office of the Project Coordinator, Erode, admit that it has been quite difficult for the teacher as well as their staff to rent a place for Rs. 50. They add that the Government has revised the rent allowance to Rs. 500 a month and hope that they will be able to rent a building soon.

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