Spruce up the Anganwadis

The Anganwadi centers of the Social Welfare Department provide a range of services for children, adolescent girls, lactating mother, pregnant woman etc. The Anganwadis function as focal community resource centers.

The Integrated Child Development Sevices Programme aims at providing services to pre-school children in an integrated manner so as to ensure proper growth and development of children in rural, tribal and slum areas. ICDS is a centrally sponsored scheme.

Launched on 2^nd October 1975, today, ICDS Scheme represents one of the world’s largest and most unique programmes for early childhood development with the following objectives:

1. to improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age-group 0-6 years;
2. to lay the foundation for proper psychological, physical and social development of the child;
3. to reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school dropout;
4. to achieve effective co-ordination of policy and implementation amongst the various departments to promote child development; and
5. to enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health and nutritional needs of the child through proper nutrition and health education.

The above objectives are sought to be achieved through

1. supplementary nutrition,
2. immunization,
3. health check-up,
4. referral services,
5. pre-school non-formal education and
6. nutrition & health education.

In Kerala there is an anganwadi for every 800 population. Now Kerala is in the verge of modernization of anganwadis. Many people have contributed land for the construction of anganwadis. The plots differ in sizes, but we have site plans for almost all types of plots.

In Kerala there are 32,300 anganwadis. Out of these only17,845 have proper buildings. Rest of them are functioning in temporary sheds and other rented buildings that have no basic infrastructure facilities.

In Kerala the cost of the land is very high. The general public, Panchayath, Muncipalities and Corporations too have donated land for the construction of Anganwadis. 1013 Anganwadis have got land of their own. Here the construction of building has to take place. 

How You Can Help

You can provide the basic infrastructure and help build a learning environment by contributing for the construction of anganwadi buildings. An anganwadi building will cost about 3.5 lakhs for construction .  The building comprises of

Kitchen

Baby friendly toilets

Pre school education class rooms

Dining Room

Bed Rooms

Safe drinking Water facilities

Electricity

Gas connection

Furnitures in class rooms

Play equipments- Indoor and out door

Computers

Beds

Cots

Other infrastructure facilities.

One can donate to any of these mentioned above.

Lack of adequate Government funding has resulted in inadequate infrastructure facilities. You can help spruce up the 32,000 odd Anganwadis in the state by contributing any amount. This will help a child to have a better space for growing up.