Anganwadi
Anganwadi (Hindi pronunciation: [ãːɡɐnɐʋaːɖiː]) is a type of rural child care centre in India.It was started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services program to combat child hunger and malnutrition. Anganwadi in Hindi means "courtyard shelter" in English.
| Formation | 1975 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Government of India |
| Type | Governmental organization |
| Legal status | Governmental organization |
| Purpose | Combat hunger and malnutrition of children. |
| Origins | India |
| Affiliations | Government of India |
A typical Anganwadi center provides basic health care in a village. It is a part of the Indian public health care system. Basic health care activities include contraceptive counseling and supply, nutrition education and supplementation, as well as pre-school activities. The centres may be used as depots for oral rehydration salts, basic medicines and contraceptives. As of 31 January 2013, as many as 13.3 lakh (a lakh is 100,000) Anganwadi and mini-Anganwadi centres (AWCs/mini-AWCs) are operational out of 13.7 lakh sanctioned AWCs/mini-AWCs. These centres provide supplementary nutrition, non-formal pre-school education, nutrition, and health education, immunization, health check-up and referral services of which the last three are provided in convergence with public health systems.
While as of latest 31 March 2021, 13.87 lakh Anganwadi and mini-Anganwadi centres (AWCs/mini-AWCs) are operational out of 13.99 lakh sanctioned AWCs|AWC/mini-AWCs with the following categorization in the quarterly report :
- State/UT wise details of growth monitoring in Anganwadi Centers - Total children:-89.1+ lakh
- Total No. of AWCs/Mini-AWCs with Drinking water facility:-11.9+ lakh
- Total No. of AWCs/Mini-AWCs with toilet facility:-10+ lakh
- Other miscellaneous on rented/govt. buildings, nutritional coverage, pre-school education, vacant/in-position/sanctioned posts of AWWs/AWHs/CDPOs/Supervisors, etc.