PANAJI
On the backdrop of the announcement 60 more anganwadis in the State by the Union Minister for Women and Child Welfare Smriti Irani, an estimate of working condition of current anganwadis reveals that around 750 of them run from rental premises and the government has to pay annually Rs 1.35 crore as rent. The process of shifting these anganwadis to government buildings and primary school buildings is on phase wise.
Briefing this to The Goan, the director of Women and Child Welfare department Deepali Naik said that the State of Goa currently has 1,264 anganwadis and out of these 750 are running from rental premises. There are 125 anganwadis in the urban areas of 12 talukas that run from rental premises. Each of this anganwadi has to pay Rs 4,000 as rent per month. In rural areas, a total of 625 anganwadis run from rental rooms and each of these have to pay a rent of Rs 1,000 per month.
If calculated, the annual rent of the urban anganwadis comes to Rs 60 lakh and the rural anganwadis have to pay a rent of Rs 75 lakh per year. The proposal of shifting these anganwadis to permanent places in government building or government run primary schools has been pending for a long time. The efforts are also on by the Women and Child Welfare department. The department keeps a track of empty buildings and keeps informing the government from time to time.
Accordingly the government has also shifted 223 anganwadis to government buildings belonging to PWD and other departments. Also, 289 anganwadis were shifted to government primary schools. Such process will continue even in the future too, informed Naik.
