HYDERABAD: Several anganwadi centres operating in Hyderabad district are not just reeling under staff crunch but are also shelling out exorbitant amounts to rent the spaces from where they operate. As many as 720 such centres that are operating on rental basis require Rs10 lakh every month, cumulatively. These centres have recently addressed a letter to the Hyderabad collector urging him to allot land for anganwadis so that their expenses can be reduced.
From across the 16 mandals in the district, at least one complaint pertaining to infrastructural bottlenecks and requesting a separate anganwadi centre of their own is being raised with the collector every week. According to official information, a total of 914 Anganwadi centres are being run in the district under the Child Welfare Development (CWD). Out of these centres, 194 centres function in their own buildings, 720 in rented buildings.
Officials from the Child Welfare Department of the district said: “We have already submitted a report to the collector to provide us with land for anganwadi centres. Every month, we end up paying Rs10 lakhs to cover the rents of 720 anganwadi centres. The Hyderabad collector in-charge has given instructions to concerned revenue authorities to identify the land and hand it over to the CWD.”
Meanwhile, the Additional District Revenue Officer of Hyderabad, G Venkateshwarlu, said, “We have issued orders to all Mandal Revenue Officers to identify the land for anganwadis as per the direction of collector in-charge.”