Anganwadi workers to impart pre-school education at day care centres

Anganwadi workers across the country will now undergo training to be able to provide pre- school education to children aged between three to six years at the state-run day care centres.
The move is aimed at making the role of the these workers more meaningful and reshaping the government's Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme which provides food and primary healthcare to children under six years of age and their mothers at these Anganwadi or day-care centres.
"There will be a shift in the role and duties of the Anganwadi workers from food distribution to children and lactating mothers to imparting pre-school education. The idea is to make their role more meaningful and make ICDS more effective," Union Misiter for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandh said today.

The Ministry officials said they have figured out alternative ways of distributing food so that the anganwadi workers can focus more on imparting education which is crucial for the development of a child.
Gandhi, who presented the National Level Awards 2016-17 to the anganwadi workers, alleged that they have been "misused" for over four decades as they were made to work for elections and attend political meetings and even greet VIPs, which was banned after she took over.
According to a senior ministry official, there are around 27 lakh anganwadi workers including assistants in the country.

The awards for the year 2016-17 were given to 51 workers today.

These awards are given away annually.
Gandhi congratulated the awardees and urged them to keep up their dedication to the cause of child development, community mobilization and awareness generation while delivering the ICDS Services.