In a restructure, 4,200 anganwadis notified as urban centres
Authorities said that the exercise was long-pending and crucial as the upkeep of these anganwadis was ignored due to jurisdictional confusion
Mumbai In a first-of-its-kind exercise, as many as 4,200 anganwadi centres in Maharashtra, that earlier fell under rural areas, have been notified as ‘urban centres’ by the state’s Women and Child Development (WCD) department.

Authorities said that the exercise was long-pending and crucial as the upkeep of these anganwadis was ignored due to jurisdictional confusion. Maharashtra has a total of 1,10,468 anganwadi centres. Of these, 15,599 were urban anganwadi centres and with the restructuring, the number has gone up to 19,799.
“The landscape of the state has changed over the years, with the boundaries of the cities expanding, and many rural pockets being taken over by the municipal corporations and councils,” said Idzes Kundan, principal secretary of the state’s WCD department.
“Thur, the restructuring was long overdue. This exercise will ensure that the baseline services to the newly-notified urban anganwadis are robust,” she said, adding that her team geotagged every single anganwadi.
The Government Resolution (GR) about the newly-notified urban anganwadis was issued on March 4. The administrative hierarchy to manage the rural anganwadis includes the anganwadi worker at the very bottom, anganwadi supervisor, a class II Child Development Project Officer (CDPO), a deputy project officer and the chief executive officer of the Zilla Parishad. This intricate hierarchy is missing for the urban centres and the control largely falls under the ICDS commissioner.
“When certain municipal corporations expanded their boundaries, many of the rural anganwadis fell under the urban regions and were thus ignored by the zilla parishad, even when it came to basic repairs and upkeep,” said Sanjeev Jadhav, director of the Rajmata Jijau Mother-Child Health and Nutrition Mission under the WCD.
“On the other hand, since they were not notified as ‘urban centres’, the urban governance bodies also did not take responsibility. These 4,200 centres fell in a gap and notifying them as urban centres will now help in seamless convergence of processes,” he added.
Anganwadis that function in rented premises in urban areas get ₹6,500 for the rent, while the rent allotment for rural anganwadis is ₹1,000. The newly-notified anganwadis will ths stand to get a higher allotment.
However, activists sounded caution with more anganwadis being added into the urban regions. “The overall concept of anganwadis is meant for the poor and needy, and thus remains a low priority area,” said Bandu Sane, an activist from the Melghat region. “In addition, the urban anganwadis are a weaker link, with many functioning in tiny rented premises that are often shifted or shut down. Listing more anganwadis as urban centres may result in the same fate,” he said.
The state officials said that they are also trying for a better administrative demarcation in the urban regions to manage the anganwadis and a GR to this effect is expected soon.
What are anganwadi centres?
The word anganwadi can be translated as ‘courtyard shelter’. These centres were started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme to combat childhood hunger and malnutrition. The centres are targeted at children between 0-6 years, where they are offered pre-school education and served snacks and meals. Those who are malnourished are also given energy-dense nutritious food (EDNF) in the form of a ready-made therapeutic paste. The anganwadi centres also teach mothers how to understand the needs of a child and cater to that.
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