KOCHI: All what the 22 families in the 8th ward of Parakkadavu panchayat in Kurumassery near Aluva wanted was a basic anganwadi facility for their children to learn their first steps in education. And when it materialised, spending `16.5 lakh from the MP fund of 2017-18, it became a 1,200 sq ft two-storey building, with a cultural centre on the first floor and an anganwadi on the ground. “We had longed for such a facility but never expected it to happen so fast and so classy,” says Pushpa Babu, a homemaker in the neighbourhood. “We had to approach the MP only once and he obliged in the first attempt,” says C N Mohanan, vice president, Parakkadavu Panchayat.
Subhash Maniyangattu, a youth living nearby, says the new facility will not only help the kids of the neighbourhood to learn things and express their hidden talents but will also help the youth of the area to get together at the cultural centre. “Such public places are the need of the hour,” he adds.
Anyway, for the young mothers like Chinchu Sabu and Ajeena Anil in the area, the catch is the anganawadi itself. “Presently, our children are going to the anganawadi which operates from a rented room at the Alappady junction here. The kitchen also is inside the same room and it’s too congested for the children,” they say. No wonder, M K Bindu, the teacher at the anganwadi for the past 12 years, looks forward to the inauguration of the new facility once the electricity connection and the compound walls are done. The new facility has tiled floors and shelves with a modern toilet and an attached kitchen. The happy smiles of the residents silently say that development is not all about big industries, bridges and roads alone and there are still things to be done for the people in the lower strata of our society.