Question

What are the duties of Anganwadi workers?

Answer 1

Hint: Anganwadi was an initiative taken by the Indian government under the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS). Anganwadi is a primary healthcare and education center in rural India, focusing on the health of pregnant women and nursing mothers along with child health care.

Complete answer:
> The important services provided by the Anganwadi workers are- primary health checkup and immunization, supplementary nutrition, educating people (in particular women) about family planning, their health, and well-being. An Anganwadi worker is usually a resident of the same community and has at least completed her primary school education.
> The other duties of Anganwadi workers include the following:
> The workers have to ensure the participation and cooperation of the people of the community. They also have to keep a record of all the children and pregnant women.
> They also provide informal education to children up to the age of six.
> They provide their assistance to Mahila Mandal and programs such as Kishori Shakti Yojana (for adolescent girls.
> They have to keep records of the number of births and deaths (child and mothers) in their village.
> The Anganwadi workers along with providing supplements to the children also provided referrals in case the child is severely malnourished.
> Anganwadi worker’s responsibilities are many but their dedicated work could help improve the quality of life at the grass-root level.

Note: According to a 2019 report, within the next five years the government plans to establish 2.5 lakh Anganwadi centers. They aim to provide facilities such as creche and smart classes for children. In 1975, Anganwadi started with about a hundred centers in the Mysore district. Now the number of working centers is 13.77 lakh. These Anganwadi centers employ about 24 lakh people.