This Women's Day, celebrate Anganwadi workers, the unsung nutrition heroes

On International Women's Day 2023, know about Anganwadi workers, the women who work tirelessly to make sure that the nation's children and women receive support for their nutrition and health

"Rice alone is not enough; we need vegetables and pulses to cook with it. When my son lost his job during the Covid-19 pandemic, there were days when we just ate boiled rice that we got from the government. Had it not been for the support from women from Anganwadi centres, my grandchildren would have become weak and malnourished. I am very thankful to them because even during the deadly waves of the pandemic, Anganwadi workers worked hard and risked their lives to ensure my grandchildren get sufficient food and nutrition every day," said Kanti Ben, a 65-year-old widow from a tribal community who lives in Kansatiya village, Devgadh Baria block of Dahod district in Gujarat. 

Kanti Ben is an Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) ration card holder under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), so she gets 35 kg of foodgrain per month from the government. Her grandchildren (a 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy) are enrolled with an Anganwadi centre and get a supplementary nutrition item called "Sukhadi", which is provided by the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) department, Government of Gujarat. According to Kanti Ben, Anganwadi workers helped her distressed family during the lockdown.

On this International Women's Day, let us know about and celebrate the army of women who have been working relentlessly for years on the frontlines as Anganwadi workers to ensure that health and nutrition support reaches the children, pregnant women and lactating mothers in rural and urban areas. According to experts, the positive effects of the work done by these community health workers are evident from the declining mortality among infants, children and new mothers in the country.

Due to their contribution to the fight against malnutrition, UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) refers to them as "essential to a child's development".

Who Are Anganwadi workers (AWW) and Anganwadi helpers (AWH)?

To combat malnutrition among all pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children between 0 and 6 years old, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) launched the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme on October 2, 1975. Anganwadi workers and helpers are women volunteers who provide services under this programme. Their job includes giving children informal preschool education, supplemental nutrition, nutrition and health education, health checkups, and helping out in important immunisation campaigns.

Talking to Business Standard, Basanta Kumar Kar, chief adviser-cum-mentor of The Coalition For Food and Nutrition Security, said, "AWWs and AWHs took the roles of a 'nutrition warrior', 'corona warrior' and 'lockdown hero' during the pandemic. By distributing rations door to door, they could avert an impending nutritional famine. They frequently referred very malnourished children to Nutrition Rehabilitation Centers (NRCs), which helped them survive.

Number of AWWs and AWHs

As of June 30, 2022, there were 2,440,366 AWWs and AWHs in the country, according to the data shared by the ministry of women and child development (MWCD) in the Rajya Sabha on December 21, 2022. However, according to the data, the total number of sanctioned positions for AWWs and AWHs is 2,682,170. This shows that there is a shortage of 241,804 AWWs and AWHs. 

The highest vacancy of 58,833 is in Uttar Pradesh which is 16.4 per cent of the sanctioned posts. This is followed by Rajasthan, which lacks 48,123 AWWs and AWHs, almost 40.8 per cent of the total sanctioned posts in the state.

Neeta Bhatnagar, a 52-year-old resident of Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh who has been an AWW since 1998 said, "An Anganwadi centre headed by an AWW serves a population of 1,000. Imagine, if one vacancy is not fulfilled how it impacts. AWWs work overtime and keep critical health and nutrition services running. In many urban centres in UP, one AWW is being burdened with more than 10,000 population because the state is not recruiting more AWWs and AWHs even though many women have applied for the sanctioned posts. Their files have not been moving forward for over two years now. Because of this, all the health and nutrition-related services provided by Anganwadi Centres are being affected immensely."

Honorarium to Anganwadi workers and helpers

They do not get a fixed monthly income or benefits and receive honorariums in lieu of their work which they do without any provision of weekly leaves. The honorariums they get differ from state to state as the amount they receive is based on the amount paid by the Union government and the additional incentives paid by respective state governments. 

In many states, the Anganwadi workers are paid around Rs. 5,000, and the helpers are paid Rs. 2,500. Since Anganwadi workers are not considered regular employees, they do not receive any social security. Currently, only the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu are providing Employee State Insurance (ESI) and Provident Fund (PF) to Anganwadi workers.

Challenges they face

Anganwadi workers feel they remain largely unseen, unheard and unrecognised by others, including the government.

Apart from low remuneration and no social security, the lack of adequate infrastructure is another major problem that Anganwadi workers face. They are also often at the receiving end of various complaints from the community as they are in direct contact with the people. In recent years, Anganwadi workers have taken to the streets to demand their rights.

Pravin, a 42-year-old Anganwadi worker in Kota, Rajasthan, said, "We have raised the issue of low remuneration and no social security many times. We are caregivers engaged indirectly in the healthcare sector without being given a civil post. Anganwadi workers in Rajasthan get Rs 7,500 per month as an honorarium. It is not enough to live a dignified life. There are more than 62,000 centres across the states and most of those are in poor condition."