Amit Bathla Bathinda, July 23 Imagine a room with cracks, plaster-less walls and leaking roofs. These are some of the features of a majority of anganwadi centres in the city. Their condition has gone from bad to worse following incessant rains. Anganwadi centres in low-lying areas like Hans Nagar, Partap Nagar, Parasram Nagar, Harbans Nagar, Sanguana Basti, Bachan Colony and Bangi Colony were found in a dilapidated condition. Last week’s spell of rain damaged ration that was stored inside rooms. Two centres at street number one of Hans Nagar exposed the government’s slackness towards child care centres. At centre numbers 410 and 411, just four to five children were seen sitting on the ground in a vacated plot attached to it. There is no provision of electricity at the centre, forcing workers to work in humid weather conditions. A worker, who did not wish to be named, said, “This is not a new issue. It has remained unaddressed for quite some time now. Owing to a leaked roof, the ration has been damaged extensively. We lost around 40 kg of sugar. Even necessary documents got affected. Normally, there are around 12-13 children in a centre. Now-a-days, parents do not send their children to the centre due to the appalling condition of these centres. Our grievances have so far fallen on deaf ears.” She said, “What can we do to install an electricity meter. We hope that the situation will improve if this gets published in newspapers. An anganwadi centre at Sanguana Basti was no different as far as their condition is concerned. The flooded centre does not see children these days as it has been flooded due to incessant rains. Nowadays, houses of anganwadi workers have turned into anganwadi centres. The issue has been brought to the notice of many officials concerned, including the SDO and the JE, but nobody took a step to drain water from the centre, a worker at anganwadi centre number 306 said. A resident said, “It’s been more than 15 days since the centre was flooded. The stagnant water is breeding mosquitoes, which spread vector-borne diseases. On the other hand, the authorities concerned never tire of talking about providing child healthcare.”

Stay updated with all the Latest Bhatinda headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.