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| ‘ICDS project boon for officials’ | | Deserving child, expecting mothers suffer | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Jan 3
Notwithstanding the claims of central and state government that crores of rupees are being spend for the development of poor and needy children including destitute pregnant women of different villages under Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in state of Jammu and Kashmir ground reality presents a different scenario in North Kashmir's Baramulla district.
Believe it or not, the officials working for the implementation of the centrally sponsored scheme are the real beneficiaries of the funds received for poor masses. If the sources within the department are to be believed, fake entries of beneficiaries are being made only to swindle huge amount of public money.
When this reporter visited various ICDS centers being run in the residential houses and located in different villages of Baramulla, the beneficiaries shown in registers were not present and even they have never been to these centers.
Ironically, only Anganwari helpers in whose residential houses the centers are being run were present, while the workers remain absent and some times they go absconding for months together.
Ask any Anganwari helper present at the center that were are beneficiaries and worker, they will just pick up the register to show the roll of beneficiaries and expenditure of nutrition.
Hafeeza an Anganwari helper in Punchatar ICDS of Village Janbazpora center says, "We have 40 beneficiaries but today they have not come and the Madam is on leave. It has been since November 10, we have not received nutrition."
Most of the Anganwari helpers while talking to this reporter complained about various problems they were face to face with.
"We are being provided substandard and adulterated food items, which we are not able to give to the children," said a helper who pleaded anonymity.
The integrated child development scheme (ICDS), believed to be one of the world's largest programmes for childhood development was launched with great enthusiasm in J&K, but lack of supervision of the Anganwari centers and accountability of field staff is not yielding the desired results.
Anganwari workers, wishing not to be named, said "We are being giving less quantity of food items and other nutrients than being signed by the officers on receipts."
"This scheme is just wastage of money as the nutrition is being consumed or sold by the Anganwari Worker and Helpers to local shopkeepers. By providing some nutrition items the purpose of the scheme cannot be achieved. Once in month beneficiaries get food items but after that they are no more visible in the centers", laments Bashir Ahmed, an elderly local of Rafiabad Baramulla.
Sources in Department of Social Welfare's ICDS program section said that total numbers of ICDS centers in district Baramulla are 1608 and each center is given nutrition worth Rs18000 per year. Rs 1940 per month salary is given to an Anganwari Worker and Helper and there are 3216 workers and helpers in Baramulla district which comprise huge amount of capital being spent annually on these centers. .
According to a recent survey conducted by Economics and Statistics Department in 22 districts of the state shows that 62 percent of the Anganwari centers are functional while 30 percent are partially functional and eight percent are totally non- functional.
Only 45 percent of the beneficiaries had regular checkup, 55 percent had no checkup at all, 27 percent of Anganwari centers receive nutrition supply late, and in seven percent of the centers quality of nutrition food was found poor, the survey revealed. |
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