CHENNAI: RESIDENTS of Kannagi Nagar and Ezhil Nagar rue that anganwadi centres to which they send their children have inadequate facilities and are also maintained in a pathetic manner.
A total of 19 centres which cater to over 23,000 families resettled from various parts of the city have tiles missing on the roof, leaky ceilings, seepage in walls and construction debris lying beneath the kitchen sink.
While most of these centres are operating from their own buildings, some are clubbed together owing to the lack of a dedicated facility. Broken gates, inadequate compound walls, damaged roofs and cracks in buildings are the common issues raised in most of the centres.
An average of one lakh people live in the tenements in these two areas, and daily wage workers rely on these centres to provide a safe shelter to their children when they go to work.
“Sanitation is one of the major issues. Many of the centres do not have a dedicated campus or a play area and are also in unclean conditions,” said Vasanthi, a parent. When TNIE visited a centre, it found the campus being used as a cowshed and cattle reared nearby.
According to teachers, maintenance is not carried out at regular intervals citing reasons like lack of funds. “Staff are doing their best to run these centres. But shortage of funds is a major challenge to upgrade these centres,” an anganwadi staff told TNIE.
Activists have urged officials to immediately intervene in this regard. Activist Vanessa Peter said, “Anganwadi centres are often overlooked everywhere, not just in Kannagi Nagar. Most of the residents here are daily wage labourers who are heavily dependent on these centres. Their necessities should be met.”
An official from the social welfare department acknowledged the issues and said that the matter has been taken up with higher officials. “We have closed a centre which was in very bad condition. We are undertaking renovation work, with government funds and also by mobilising CSR funds. We have sent a detailed proposal for upgrading these centres,” the official added.
Ward 196 councillor Ashwini Karuna told TNIE, “We are preparing an estimate for renovating these centres and a proposal will be passed by the ward committee and sent to the corporation.”