NEW DELHI, SEPT 22: The Union Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry has signed an MoU with Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Group to develop 4,000 ‘next generation’ Anganwadi centers across the country with a total investment of Rs 400 crore.
The MoU was signed by Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of WCD and Mayank Ashar, Managing Director, Cairn India, a subsidiary company of Vedanta, to develop these modern Anganwadi centres in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh among others.
Dr. Kumar said that through this partnership, Vedanta aims to create social incubators that will help uplift the communities on a national scale by educating children, eradicating malnutrition and developing vocational skills among women in India.
Speaking on the development V Somasundaran, Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development said, “We are planning to modernize the Anganwadis and revamp these as enablers that will not only provide supplementary nutrition and basic healthcare services in villages but also function as a place to mobilize the village women to increase their participation in community development.”
“We are happy to associate with the Ministry for setting up model Anganwadis. Through these modern Anganwadis Vedanta endeavours to provide a better environment to the children of India. Healthy children and empowered women will eradicate poverty and malnutrition,” Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal said.
These model Anganwadis will be built in clusters of 25-30 in a particular district with multi functional capabilities. The land for the Anganwadis will be provided by the Gram Panchayats.
The Anganwadis are proposed to be run as a shared space in which 50 per cent of the time will be devoted to childrens education and the remaining half will support womens skill development.
The model Anganwadis will be equipped with solar power, television for e-learning, hygienic toilets and pure drinking water supply.
Construction of these centres will be done by Vedanta, using prefabricated eco-friendly structures. Post construction, the new Anganwadi centres will be handed over to the respective Panchayat or local urban body. These centers will also have access to medical vans provided by Vedanta to meet the need for primary medical services to children and women.
