Parents fume at unhygienic conditions in anganwadi

VIJAYAPURA: Mounds of garbage that have accumulated at an anganwadi centre in Kalakeri village, Talikot taluk in the district is a sad reflection of the lack of importance given to child welfare in the state. Pigs can be spotted ambling around the playground on the premises, and the overall condition of the centre borders on the unhygienic.
As many as 40 children study at the anganwadi centre, which was set up in 2015-16 using funds allocated to the women and child welfare department.Staff at the anganwadi centre said that the unsanitary conditions had resulted in the place becoming infested with many insects, and even snakes. Repeated pleas to the local administration to get the premises cleaned have failed to prompt any action, rued the angry parents.
President of the Talikot wing of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike Praveen Jagashetty said that the anganwadi was under the ambit of the Kalakeri gram panchayat (GP). “We have submitted memorandum to the GP several times, but to no avail,”he said.
Kalakeri GP president Siddamma Bedar, however, said that he had thus far been unaware of the anganwadi’s presence in the village. “But I will visit the centre, and direct the officials to clean the premises,” said Bedar.