DINDIGUL: There are a total of 1,044 vacancies in anganwadi centres in the district that have not been filled for the last four years. The district administration has recently invited applications to fill just 235 posts.
In its reply to an RTI query filed by TNIE, dated April 2, 2025, the district administration stated that there are 655 vacancies for the post of anganwadi assistants (cooks) and 389 vacancies for anganwadi workers.
A press release dated April 6, 2025, invited applications for just 154 anganwadi assistants, 13 workers for small anganwadi centres, and 78 cooks.
K Rathispandian, RTI activist, told TNIE, “There are over 2,039 anganwadi centres in Dindigul. Of these, just 1,650 have workers. The remaining 389 posts are vacant, and there are 655 vacant posts for cooks. Why does not the government recruit people for all the vacancies? I questioned the officials about this issue, but they refused to speak.”
S Padmavathy, CITU-Anganwadi Employees Union (Dindigul) secretary, said, “ The workers are under severe stress as vacancies have existed for over four years. In 2023, we staged a protest, after which they filled just a few posts. However, the overall vacancies are still more.
These workers are not just in charge of offering nutritious food, but also take oral lessons (between 10 am -12 pm) for the kids who are just above 2 years old. After offering food to kids, the workers have to visit lactating mothers in the neighbourhood and also support the health workers who go for field visits.”
She added, “For all these, the workers are paid meagre salaries. A new worker and assistant (helper) get Rs 7,700 and Rs 4,100 respectively per month.”
An official from the district administration said, “There are no malpractices or discrepancies in the recruitment process. The number of recruitment is taken by the state coordinating officer of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). We do not decide on the numbers.”