KARWAR: Mobile phones that were provided to Anganawadi workers to ease their job have turned into a money-draining gadget for them as they are spending from their pockets to recharge phone data packages.
Considering that Anganwadi workers are involved in government-related work, three years ago the government provided them with smartphones, which have now become a burden. The phones, provided under the ‘Poshana Abhiyan scheme’, allows them to enter data into registers. “We have to enter data daily, but our mobiles have not been recharged so far,” said an Anganawadi worker in Karwar.
“It has been more than four months since the mobile data of these phones are recharged. We get Rs 10,000 per month as payment, but we spend from our pockets to recharge data,” said Manjula, another Anganawadi teacher.
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“Most of us use wifi or share hotspots with others. Sometimes, even that becomes difficult because of poor network. In some interior parts of the district, internet connectivity is poor. We carry work home and that prevents us from doing our household chores,” added Manjula.
They begin work by 7 am, but their work remains pending even after 10 pm. “Since Anganawadis feed children under government schemes, if we do not make the data entry, it is considered that we have not fed the children. We are answerable to higher-ups,” the teachers said.
“At Anganwadis, we spend more time making entries on mobile phones than teaching kids. It is better if the government takes back these mobile phones and gives us old register log books in the interest of children,” another Anganwadi worker said. To make matters worse, these mobile phones are now outdated. “It is time they are replaced with new devices,” said a senior officer on condition of anonymity.
CDPO Arun Naik, when contacted, said, “We have around 2,000 Anganwadi workers. We will pay them Rs 2,000 each to recharge their mobile currency every year,” he said.
Minister for Women and Child Welfare Laxmi Hebbalkar told TNIE that money has been released for mobile currency recharge for Anganawadi teachers. ”Rs 6.28 crore has been released. As for the replacement of phones, I will get the cabinet approval and call for tenders in the first week of February. We need to provide 70,000 mobile phones for all Anganawadi teachers. Since the cost exceeds Rs 10 crore and as per the Transparency Act, we need to call for tenders. It has to be placed before the cabinet for approval,” she said.