Funds crunch hits Dhenkanal creches

DHENKANAL: The Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme has fallen flat in Dhenkanal district due to insufficient funds. This programme aimed to provide crèche and day care facilities to children of working mothers and poor women, who need to financially support their families.
As many as 1,700 children (0 to 6 years) had registered themselves in more than 60 creches in Dhenkanal district.NGOs are handling these centres in Gondia, Parjang and tribal-dominated Kankadahada blocks. Official sources said 25 babies can be enlisted in each creche. They would be provided with sleeping facilities, healthcare, supplementary nutrition, immunization, etc, for eight hours between 9 am and 5 pm. But no food is being cooked at these centres and neither sanitation is being maintained.
According to sources, initially the State Council for Child Welfare allotted Rs 42,384 per annum, including Rs 24,000 as establishment charges to each crèche. It also gives Rs 2.08 per child for food. But the amount is too small. "We are not trying to lure children to our centre because the government gives us only Rs 2.08 per child per day for food. This is a very small amount. We are only able to give four to five pieces of biscuits with it. Besides, the government has not sanctioned us any fund for quite some time now," secretary of Chetna (an NGO) Subodh Panda said. Chetna runs the Bhanragada crèche in Gondia block. Recently, members of Indian Council of Childcare visited the centre and took stock of the situation.
The NGOs have to collect user charges of Rs 20 from children belonging to BPL families and Rs 60 from other families. But with most children coming from BPL households, parents are unable to afford it. "We are daily wage labourers and earn Rs 100 a day. We have to go 30 to 40 km from our village in search of work. How can we afford the user charge?" said Prasant Dehury, a daily-wage labourer. "Though we sent our children to these crèches, they are not getting any food except for five pieces of biscuits," he rued.
The government has stopped the non-recurring grant of Rs 10,000 that was used to buy pre-school learning materials like toys, mattresses, first-aid kit, cooking utensils and provide drinking water facilities, said Suresh Panda, director of Arun Institute of Rural Affairs, an NGO, that runs a crèche in Karmul gram panchayat. He said sans funds it is difficult to provide quality service to children.
Also, the two workers engaged in every crèche to take care of children have not received their monthly pay of Rs 1,000 each for one-and-half year now. A social activist who is running a number of crèches said he is very upset. "I have decided to close all these centres due to insufficient funds. We also cut a sorry figure before the public because of this." Some NGOs have also approached the central government to revise the expenditure to these creches.
District social welfare officer Binapany Tripathy said funds to these crèches have been discontinued for over one-and-half years. She said the district collector will soon inspect these centres. Contacted, chairman of State Social Welfare Board Sulata Deo said the board's state unit officials are visiting different creches and funds will be released soon. The Central Social Welfare Board will release the funds to the centres through the state unit.