Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW) Director Kritika Shukla has directed officials and staff of the department to visit the anganwadi centres, which are being opened from February 1, and take up sanitation drive on the school premises.
Now, known as pre-schools, the centres were closed for the last ten months due to COVID-19, and the government gave instructions to reopen them from February 1. In the wake of an incident in an anganwadi centre in West Godavari district where a snake was sighted, alert was sounded in the State, the Director said.
Ms. Shukla instructed the WD&CW Project Directors, Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs), anganwadi supervisors and women protection Secretaries to inspect the centres.
Safety
“In all, thee are 55,607 anganwadi centres in the State. Many are running in government buildings and some are functioning in private leased buildings. We are taking steps to provide foolproof safety for the children,” the Director told The Hindu on Friday.
With the anganwadi staff finding snakes coming into the centre at Bangarucheruvu Gattu in Palakol town in West Godavari district a couple of days ago, they were asked to clean the classrooms and the premises in all anganwadis before their opening.
“Instructions have been given to clear bushes on the premises, sanitise the classrooms and kitchen and check whether there are any rats, lizards, cockroaches and other insects in the rooms, which are shut. The CDPOs have been asked to check electric wiring and provide necessary electrification in the schools,” Ms. Shukla said.
The PDs should check the structural soundness (condition) of the schools. Toilets should be cleaned and drinking water and other facilities be provided in all anganwadi centres, she said.
“As the anganwadi staff were distributing rice, red gram dal, eggs, balamrutam, milk, groundnut chikkis, ragi flour, jaggery, oil, dry dates and other material to the beneficiaries under Take Home Ration (THR) under YSR Sampoorna Plus programme in the anganwadi centres, we asked the teachers, ayahs and staff to remove the stocks and clean the rooms,” the Director said.