Kundapur: Anganwadi Worker, Pratima Pai, Gets National Award

Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Mar 5: Pratima Pai, working at Uppinakudru Anganwadi in the taluk, has been chosen for the national award, in recognition of her meritorious services in guiding and educating the small children, and developing her Anganwadi with the help of donors.

Pai had received state level award for her work on February 23 this year. A total of eight Anganwadi workers from the state have been selected for this coveted award. The awards function will be held at Bangalore on March 8.

Pratima is the daughter of the late Prafulla Raghavendra Pai from Salikeri, Brahmavar, in Udupi district. She has worked in Uppinakudru Anganwadi near here, for the last 28 years. She has also excelled as a guide, mentor and teacher of the children attending Uppinakudru Anganwadi.

She got training in the job at Anganwadi Training Centre in Ullal, Mangalore in 1983, before being posted to Uppinanakudru. She has been able to convince donors to provide a number of facilities to the Anganwadi, including building, power connection to the toilet, electrical equipments, furniture items, clock, etc. In addition, she also has been ably guiding two Stree Shakti self help groups.

Pratima Pai gets credit for spreading a sense of savings among the poor people of the region, by coaxing them to open recurring deposit accounts to keep aside their savings on a regular basis for future use. She has always been working for the upliftment of the people belonging to the lower strata of society by helping them to avail of benefits under Sandhya Suraksha, monthly pension for the widows, monthly allowance for the handicapped etc, under different schemes of the government. She, in addition, has helped the women to become financially independent, by providing them training in tailoring and assisting them to avail loans for conducting dairying activity, among others.