Context: Due to the Covid pandemic, Anganwadis were closed owing to lockdown. This article discusses the need to reopen the Anganwadis since they are the focal point for the execution of all ICDS health, nutrition, and early learning programmes.
About Anganwadi

• In Indian languages, the word anganwadi means “courtyard shelter.”
• They began in 1975 as part of the Indian government’s Integrated Child Development Services initiative to tackle child hunger and malnutrition.
• The AWW is supported by a part-time assistant, called an Anganwadi Helper (AWH)

Significance of Anganwadis

• Anganwadis are part of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and provide childcare, health and nutrition, education, supplemental nutrition, immunisation, health check-ups, and referral services to households, particularly those from low-income families.
• ICDS covers over 88 million children aged 0 to 6 years in India.
• Anganwadi workers were a key source of nutrition advice for families, according to IDinsight surveys.

Impacts of Anganwadis Closure

• Shutdown of Anganwadi services had a severe impact on service delivery and jeopardised a vital social security net.
• Even though anganwadis have reopened, their capacity to serve as childcare centres has been harmed.
• According to statistics from the National Family Health Service (NFHS)-5, less than 15% of five-year-olds attended any kind of pre-primary education in 2019-20.
• Home-schooling was indicated by 58 percent of women in our COVID-19 rural household surveys as the main cause of an increase in unpaid work.

Benefits of Reopening Anganwadis

• Anganwadis can help children reach their full potential by serving as platforms for early childhood education and nutrition support.
• Women’s time will be freed up, especially for economic activities, if younger children are sent to anganwadis.
• The National Education Policy, 2020, places anganwadis at the centre of the push to universalise access to early childhood care and education (ECCE).

Myriad challenges before Anganwadis

• Lack of Skill Set: Despite being the major source of nutrition advice, anganwadi staff may be lacking in technical skills.Knowledge of critical health behaviours such as complementary feeding and handwashing was poor among mothers listed as anganwadi workers.
• Lack of Resources: Anganwadi personnel frequently lack the resources or training necessary to deliver ECCE.
• Lack of Time: Administrative obligations consume a large amount of time, and fundamental services such as pre-school education suffer as a result.
• Lack of Infrastructure: Infrastructure is frequently lacking in anganwadis. According to NITI Aayog, only 59% of anganwadis had enough seating for children and employees, and more than half were unsanitary.
• Issues in Urban Areas: According to NFHS-4 statistics, the use of early childcare services at anganwadis in urban regions is just 28 percent, compared to 42 percent in rural areas.

Ways to increase the efficiency of Anganwadis

• Prioritize and assess initiatives that have a track record of effectiveness.
• Increase the number of home visits where volunteers interact with children and caregivers to enhance cognition, language, and dietary intake.
• Execute seamless cooperation among anganwadi staff to provide efforts surrounding home-based newborn and young child care.
• Improve anganwadi staff’ career incentives and compensation.
• Link Anganwadis and elementary schools to promote convergence, as well as the time of childcare at anganwadis would be extended.
• Reaching out to pregnant moms can enhance the chances that their children will receive ICDS programmes.

Road Ahead

• Anganwadis, the world’s biggest supplier of early childhood care, play a critical role in improving the lives of children in India. We need to spend more in anganwadis and use proven innovative approaches to enhance these results.

Additional Information
Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA)

• ASHAs are an all-female cadre of community health workers constituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the National Rural Health Mission in 2006.
• ASHA is the first port of call for any health-related demands of deprived sections of the population, especially women and children.

The aim of the ASHA is to

• create awareness on health and its social determinants
• mobilize the community towards local health planning
• facilitate access to existing health services.

Auxiliary Nurse Midwife

• Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) is a female health worker who is based at a health sub-centre or Primary health centre. They are recognised as essential frontline workers under the National Rural Health Mission.
• The ANM cadre was created in the 1950s to focus on basic maternal health including midwifery and child health.
• Later, the ANMs became designated as multipurpose workers (MPW) and their responsibilities included family planning, immunisation, infectious disease prevention and care, in addition to maternal health and childbirth.