Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (NR)  

Mangalore, Mar 3: The state government's move to privatize the programmes under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) has come in for a lot of criticism from the Karnataka Rajya Anganawadi Naukarara Sangha (KRANS).  

The KRANS's general secretary S Varalakshmi pointed out that the state government had issued orders for handing over the job of supplying nutritious food to the Anganawadi children to private organizations in Dakshina Kannada, Bellary, Bangalore Urban and Rural and Dharwad districts.  

This move according to the general secretary is not good as it will undermine the role of Anganawadi centres in implementing ICDS and make the Anganawadi workers and assistants working for the last 32 years lose their jobs, she added.  

Moreover, Varalakshmi informed that supplying of nutritious food was the key component of the schemes and now by employing private agencies and organization to do so, the government is moving away from its responsibilities.  

In this context she agitatedly queried "If the private organizations are engaged to carry forward the government schemes, then what is the responsibility of the government? Disclosing her future plans in this matter, she informed that the Sangha will oppose the move and never allow the government to implement it. 

Varalakshmi declared, "We will stage protests at the Anganwadi Centres to prevent the private authorities from distributing the foodstuffs." In a recent judgement the high court revoked the appointment of 7,194 Anganawadi workers under ICDS. With regard to this she informed that the Sangha will urge the centre to initiate steps to reappoint the same workers as it was done when the high court had revoked the appointments made on the basis of rural grace marks in the state.  

The immediate course of action will be that next week a delegation will go and meet the governor Rameshwar Thakur and urge him to make an appeal to the centre to safeguard the interests of the Anganawadi workers. This is crucial as majority of the Anganawadi workers are women and the state government had spent money on their training programmes, stated Veralakshmi.  

In response to queries she said the appointment was challenged in the high court as the ZP members felt that their powers were taken away by the legislators. She opined that the high court had issued orders taking into account the legal aspects of the matter, however the issue must be dealt with on humanitarian grounds rather than on legal grounds, she pointed out.