An critical Analysis on ANGANWADI SYSTEM internship report Ravikant Yadav.pdfAn critical Analysis on ANGANWADI SYSTEM in rural Bihar By Ravikant Yadav Master of Business Administration

Integrated child development services, Bihar

Ravikant Yadav, MBA, IIT Roorkee 1

An critical Analysis on

ANGANWADI SYSTEM in rural Bihar

By

Ravikant Yadav

Master of Business Administration

IIT ROORKEE

To

(Government of Bihar)

Integrated Child Development Services ( ICDS )

Second floor,Indira bhawan, Ram charitra singh path, Patna ( 800001 )

As

Summer Intern (May-Jul 2012)



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Our project report “A critical Analysis on ANGANWADI SYSTEM in rural Bihar” has

successfully completed its voyage towards its destiny by the guidance of channelized

professional ethics and undeterred pursuance of adjectives. Starting with expression of immense

pleasure and joy to right the words of sincere and loyal gratitude to the honourable Director

Mr Praveen Kishore to give this opportunity to work and learn some most important lessons for

my professional life and have a feel of rural India. I would like to thanks Mrs Abha Prasad

(monitoring officer) for helping in every way possible and making all this quite comfortable to

me. I would also like to acknowledge Mrs Veena chaudhary (CDPO,Tajpur), Mrs Ruby Singh

(CDPO,Morwa) and Mrs Savita Kumari (CDPO, Sarairanjan and Patori on deputation) for all the

help and cooperation they devoured during the duration of internship. Last but not the least I

would like to acknowledge all the AWW and local people who showed immense participation

and gave respect whenever I visited them.

Ravikant Yadav

Intern ( May-Jul 12)

Department of Management Studies

IIT Roorkee, Roorkee



ABSTRACT

In a brief period of 8-weeks, I tried to cover maximum area in my proximity. Covered three

blocks trying to find the differences between perceived objectives and actual reality at

Anganwadi centres ( AWCs). There were various factors influencing the work of AWWs, be it

strictness of CDPOs, educational level of AWWs, their training level, number of supervisions at

their centres. Working of AWWs was also influenced by the region they were working. AWCs

which were in developed regions were more active and use to maintain a decent level of work,

whereas AWCs in backward areas were not maintained as per expectations. In this report I have

tried to cover most of the discrepancies which I found, root cause of them and possible solutions.

I have sectioned these in different chapters in my report. Hope you all readers will like my

experiences and will try to use my suggestions in a constructive way.



LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure no. Name of figure Page no.

1.1 An Anganwadi School in a small village in Tajpur Block 5

Table no. Name of table Page no.

2.1 Data collected during the period of internship 11

TABLE OF CONTENTS

S. No. Contents Page No.

1 Acknowledgement 1

2 Abstract 2

3 List of figures and tables 3

4 Chapter 1 – Introduction 5

5 1.1 What does Anganwadi mean? 5

6 1.2 What do the Anganwadi Workers do?

6

7 1.3 Role and responsibilities of AWWs 7

8 1.4 How does the Anganwadi System Work? 9

9 1.5 How does the Anganwadi System help? 9

10 CHAPTER 2-Project work 11

11 2.1 Space and water 12

12 2.2 Faulty equipments 12

13 CHAPTER 3-MAJOR OBSTRUCTIONS 13

14 3.1. Awareness: 13

15 3.2. AWWs qualification: 13

16 3.3. Lack of Training for AWWs: 14

17 3.4. Inadequate supervision: 14

18 3.5. Curious case of THR ( take home ration ) 14

19 CHAPTER 4-SSuuggggeessttiioonn bbooxx 16



20 4.1 Recruitment 16

21 4.2. Aware people 17

22 4.3. Training programs 17

23 4.4. THR menu and distribution 17

24 4.5. Alternative supervision 18

25 4.6. Feedback by AWWs 18

26 CHAPTER 5-CONCLUSION 20

27 CHAPTER 6-REFERENCES 21



CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

India is home to the largest population of malnourished and hunger-stricken people and children

leading to high infant and maternal mortality. Along with these issues are a deluge of problems

ranging from diseases, lack of education, lack of hygiene, illness, etc.

To combat this situation, the Government of India in 1975 initiated the Integrated Child

Development Service (ICDS) scheme which operates at the state level to address the health

issues of small children, all over the country. It is one of the largest child care programmes in the

world aiming at child health, hunger, mal nutrition and its related issues.

Under the ICDS scheme, one trained person is allotted to a population of 1000, to bridge the gap

between the person and organized healthcare, and to focus on the health and educational needs of

children aged 0-6 years. This person is the Anganwadi worker.

Fig1.1 An Anganwadi School in a small village in Tajpur Block

1.1 What does Anganwadi mean?

The name anganwadi worker is derived from the Indian word – angan, which means the court

yard (an central area in and around the house where most of the social activities of the household

takes place). In rural settings, the angan is the open place where people gather to talk, greet the



guests, and socialize. Traditional rural households have a small hut or house with a boundary

around the house which houses their charpoys, cattle, feed, bicycle, etc. Sometimes food is also

prepared in the angan. Some members of the household also sleep outside in open air, under the

sky, in their angans. The angan is also considered as the ‘heart of the house’ and a sacred place

which buzzes with activity at the break of dawn. Given the nature of this versatile nature of this

space, the public health worker who works in an angan, and also visits other people’s angans,

helping with their healthcare issues and concerns, is the Anganwadi worker.

The Anganwadi worker and helper are the basic functionaries of the ICDS who run the

anganwadi centre and implement the ICDS scheme in coordination with the functionaries of the

health, education, rural development and other departments. Their services also include the

health and nutrition of pregnant women, nursing mothers, and adolescent girls.

Today in India, about 2 million aanganwadi workers are reaching out to a population of 70

million women, children and sick people, helping them become and stay healthy. Anganwadi

workers are the most important and oft-ignored essential link of Indian healthcare.

Anganwadi workers are India’s primary tool against the menace of child malnourishment, infant

mortality, and lack of child education, community health problems and in curbing preventable

diseases. They provide services to villagers, poor families and sick people across the country

helping them access healthcare services, immunization, healthy food, hygiene, and provide

healthy learning environment for infants, toddlers and children.

Anganwadi workers are key informants of healthcare issues but given the nature of their work,

they are also being called as social workers and many more activities are being added to their job

profile, such as the kind of services they provide in Dindigul.

1.2 What do the Anganwadi Workers do?

The Anganwadis are engaged to provide the following formal services to the areas under their

cover:

Immunisation of all children less than 6 years of age

Immunisation against tetanus for all the expectant mothers

Supplementary nutrition to children below 6 years of age

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2206326/

http://www.dindigul.tn.nic.in/departments/icds.html



Supplementary nutrition to women who are pregnant and nursing, esp. from the low

income group

Nutrition, health education and health check-ups to all women in the age group of 15- 45

years

Antenatal care of expectant mothers

Postnatal care of nursing mothers

Caring for newborn babies

Caring for all children under 6 years of age

Referral of serious cases of malnutrition or illness to hospitals, upgraded PHCs/

Community Health Services or district hospitals

Non-formal preschool education to children of 3-5 years of age.

1.3 Role and responsibilities of AWWs

According to the The Ministry of Women and Child Development - The Government of India,

the following are the basic roles and responsibilities listed for the anganwadi worker:

To elicit community support and participation in running the programme.

To weigh each child every month, record the weight graphically on the growth card, use

referral card for referring cases of mothers/children to the sub-centres/PHC etc., and

maintain child cards for children below 6 years and produce these cards before visiting

medical and para-medical personnel.

To carry out a quick survey of all the families, especially mothers and children in those

families in their respective area of work once in a year.

To organise non-formal pre-school activities in the anganwadi of children in the age

group 3-6 years of age and to help in designing and making of toys and play equipment

of indigenous origin for use in anganwadi.

To organise supplementary nutrition feeding for children (0-6 years) and expectant and

nursing mothers by planning the menu based on locally available food and local recipes.

To provide health and nutrition education and counseling on breastfeeding/ Infant &

young feeding practices to mothers. Anganwadi Workers, being close to the local

community, can motivate married women to adopt family planning/birth control

measures

http://wcd.nic.in/



AWWs shall share the information relating to births that took place during the month

with the Panchayat Secretary/Gram Sabha Sewak/ANM whoever has been notified as

Registrar/Sub Registrar of Births & Deaths in her village.

To make home visits for educating parents to enable mothers to plan an effective role in

the child’s growth and development with special emphasis on new born child.

To maintain files and records as prescribed.

To assist the PHC staff in the implementation of health component of the programme viz.

immunisation, health check-up, ante natal and post natal check etc.

To assist ANM in the administration of IFA and Vitamin A by keeping stock of the two

medicines in the Centre without maintaining stock register as it would add to her

administrative work which would effect her main functions under the Scheme.

To share information collected under ICDS Scheme with the ANM. However, ANM will

not solely rely upon the information obtained from the records of AWW.

To bring to the notice of the Supervisors/ CDPO any development in the village which

requires their attention and intervention, particularly in regard to the work of the

coordinating arrangements with different departments.

To maintain liaison with other institutions (Mahila Mandals) and involve lady school

teachers and girls of the primary/middle schools in the village which have relevance to

her functions.

To guide Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) engaged under National Rural

Health Mission in the delivery of health care services and maintenance of records under

the ICDS Scheme.

To assist in implementation of Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY) and motivate and educate

the adolescent girls and their parents and community in general by organzing social

awareness programmes/ campaigns etc.

AWW would also assist in implementation of Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls

(NPAG) as per the guidelines of the Scheme and maintain such record as prescribed

under the NPAG.

Anganwadi Worker can function as depot holder for RCH Kit/ contraceptives and

disposable delivery kits. However, actual distribution of delivery kits or administration of

drugs, other than OTC (Over the Counter) drugs would actually be carried out by the

ANM or ASHA as decided by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.



To identify the disability among children during her home visits and refer the case

immediately to the nearest PHC or District Disability Rehabilitation Centre.

To support in organizing Pulse Polio Immunization (PPI) drives.

To inform the ANM in case of emergency cases like diahorrea, cholera etc.?

1.4 How does the Anganwadi System Work?

The Anganwadi system in one village/ area is managed by a single Anganwadi worker, who is

chosen from the community and has been trained for four months in areas such as health,

nutrition and childcare. Each Anganwadi worker covers a population of about 1000 people.

It is heartening to know that there more than a million Anganwadi centres in India, employing

more than 2 million workers, who are mostly female and intuitive to the health needs of the

region. For a country where illness, child mortality, illiteracy and poverty co-exist, this comes as

a refreshing statistic.

1.5 How does the Anganwadi System help?

India is home to over-population, mal nutrition, poverty, unemployment, low literacy levels and

more, with a target to make healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone. Given the urgency

of healthcare issues, child mortality, mal nutrition, etc., our country needs high number of

medical and healthcare professionals to cater to the population that is now running into billions.

Faced with acute shortage of skilled professionals, the Government’s ICDS scheme is using the

local population to help meet its grand goals.

The Anganwadi worker hails from the village where she works and has her finger on the pulse of

the health of the village, its people and children.

Apart for the healthcare knowledge that she possesses and gained over a period of time, the

Anganwadi worker is so entrenched in the general affairs of the household that she is in a better

position to understand the real malady behind the healthcare issues. These latent problems of the

household or community could range from relationship issues, daily hassles, sanitation, nutrition,

social, peer pressure, and much more. Given the definition of health – the physical, metal, social,

spiritual wellbeing of an individual, the Anganwadi worker perhaps has the best insight into the

people’s health of her region.



While educated doctors, learned nurses and seasoned professionals are excellent in their work

and skills, they mostly lack the social skills and expertise which is more than necessary in

interacting with the rural folk. An anganwadi worker is well versed in the ways of the village,

knows the people by their names, interacts with them on regular basis and may also has an

personal relationship with the people.

Anganwadi workers need to have good communication skills. They are usually adept in using the

right language, metaphors and allusions for convincing people to act in a certain way. Religious

customs and sentiments work best for them.



CHAPTER 2

PROJECT WORK

I was allocated Samastipur Distt of Bihar State on my personal interest as I have visited this

place before and was quite familiar and interested in working there. In Samastipur there are 20

projects running in 20 different blocks, having a Child development Project officer ( CDPO ) in

each project. Total number of AWCs is 3438 with 3434 operational till month ended june 2012. I

chose to select four different projects namely Tajpur, Sarairanjan, Morwa and Patori ( partially

covered). I visited some centers with CDPOs and others individually. CDPOs were of great help

in showing AWCs which are in interior parts of regions and that helped a lot.

Below is the table showing some stats and figures which I gathered during the period of my

internship.

Sr no Particulars Numbers

1 Total number of centers visited 89

2 Official visits ( with CDPOs) 27

3 Personal visits 62

4 Average attendance at centers 27.38

5 Median attendance at centers 26

6 Sevika absent 2

7 Sahaika absent 5

8 Worst maintained AWC ( no 83 , Tajpur Block ) ,attendance* 12

9 Best maintained AWC ( no 31, Morwa block) ,attendance* 38

10 Percentage of children in dress ~60%

Table 2.1 Data collected during the period of internship

* worst and best maintained AWCs are on the basis of attendance, children in dress, hygiene and register work.

The above data is collected by regular field visits. Though a lot can be understood from the

above data but actual picture is not as clear to observe.



I was really overwhelmed by the efforts of few AWWs, who were in scorching heat of may-june

managed to gather more than 80% attendance as well as managing the kids very well. But these

were exceptions. To make this a Trend and not an exception, we need to put a lot of extra efforts.

Other than these centers, the over all scenario was not very pleasing in regions where I visited.

2.1 Space and water

Two most prominent problems in the operation were Space and Water.

Due to lack of space it has been tried to shift these AWCs to primary schools and regional public

buildings. But the number of such buildings is very less thus centers have been located

temporarily in Huts, Verandahs, rented places and other small places which barely cover children

from sun and rains. These places were very small even to keep 40 people inside. Some of them

were almost open whereas some were too compact that even proper lighting was not there.

After space major concern is drinking water. Most of the centers visit didn’t have their own

dedicated hand pump. AWCs used to bring water from nearby facility which some time included

fetching water as far as 50 meters.

Apart from these physical problems even the internal conditions were not good. Most of them

registers were not maintained properly. I would specially like to mention the status of Growth

monitoring register(GMR), which I consider is one of the most important aspect of ICDS

programs.

In more than 92% AWCs I visited the worse maintained register was growth monitoring register.

On further enquiry it was found that most of them didn’t even know how to write that register or

didn’t have weighing facility and others were not serious enough as none of the supervisor or

other official paid any interest in checking the GMR.

2.2 Faulty equipments were also a very common practice. In none ( 0% exactly) of the centers,

all the equipments provided were working properly. Faulty spring balance was a norm.

On THR(take home ration) day, food was distributed using cans and boxes which in no way was

giving true measurements. Damaged weighing machines were also one of the main culprits of

non-maintenance of GMR as it is not possible to weigh children.

And as per officials interaction I had there were no provisions of repairing or exchange of

faulty equipments by department making it more difficult for AWWs, which is personally feel

needs to be there as these constitute major part in proper functioning of AWC.



CHAPTER 3

MAJOR OBSTRUCTIONS

ICDS program is one of the largest in the country introduced for growth of early childhood. Thus

to deliver services at this level can have lots of difficulties and discrepancies. During my tenure

as an intern I too found lots of pros and cons and here I will try to write some of the deformities

in the system which I identified and will like to bring in the notice of concerned authorities.

These have been briefed below to best of my knowledge and perception:

3.1 Awareness: To run a program of such large magnitude, support and participation of local

people is as important as duties of department. On this aspect I haven’t experienced a very good

response. People are not aware of what ICDS is and what programmes and benefits are there for

them. What I have observed is their sole concern has been the ration they receive on THR day.

They are not interested in other services like pre-school education, health services and nutritional

services which are being provided by ICDS. They never bother to enquire about the food being

served or hygiene conditions at AWCs. They are not aware of nutrient quotient of food items and

it has been seen that even in many well to do families’ children are malnutritioned. One more

thing that was really disheartening on parents part that they didn’t give much importance to

uniform and cleanliness of children even after requested multiple times by AWWs. I would like

to mention here that ICDS also provide rs 250 annually for uniform of children which parents

give least importance and use that money in routine works.

3.2 AWWs qualification: After meeting with a considerable number of AWWs I find it

very important to mention that in many cases though they fulfill the basic educational criteria

according to their certificates and documents, the actual standards were much below required.

Many of the AWWs were not even able to write in decent Hindi. Names of pupils were wrongly

written, age not properly calculated. In most of the AWWs the registers were maintained by

their husbands and AWWs didn’t even know how and what is been written there. Thus making it

mandatory to come out of old methods of selection based purely on percentage of marks

obtained in matriculation as sole criteria, we should try to induce new selection methods to

ensure that the best candidates are appointed for the job.



3.3 Lack of Training for AWWs: In last point I mentioned the discrepancies due to under

qualified AWWs but it has also been observed that though the AWWs are adequately qualified

still many a times they are not able to cope up with different type responsibilities due to poor or

insufficient training(as told by AWWs). Unluckily I was not able to counter any of the training

facilities in the region where I was located but AWWs told that they are not able to understand as

the trainings are of very short period and trainers only deliver ( one way communication) without

ensuring whether AWWs are getting or not. After that there is no exam or anything like that to

monitor their leanings. [strictly as told by AWWs, not authenticated]

It is easily understandable that training and testing of such a large work force is not

possible at once as there are very limited number of training centers. Generally one in a district

or even less sometimes. Keeping in view the large numbers, it will take a long time to put

adequate number of training centers by government or even if NGOs are interested. Thus to

improve the current scenarios other alternative steps need to be taken like at block level or may

be taking two or three block at once.

3.4 Inadequate supervision: Given the large area and huge number of centers to be

covered and total staff recruited to supervise all the centers in a given block it becomes very

difficult to cover the AWCs regularly. This is understandable, but the condition is made more

severe by non seriousness of supervisors in visiting the interiors of a block. Not naming any

particular one, but I visited centers where no official has visited in a span of two years thus

leaving AWWs to do what they want, be it fraud attendance registers showing full attendances,

below standards food being served or non/less distribution of THR ( take home ration ).

Interestingly all such centers too have their registers duly signed by the authorities without even

making sure how correct the data provided .Now I would really like to raise this question that on

what ground these registers and their accounts have been approved, do this mean any kind of

benefits to immediate supervisors ( monetary or non monetary, as generally lamented be regional

people and local media ) from the AWWs or they trust them blindly that they consider register

work as mere formalities ??

3.5 Curious case of THR ( take home ration ) : One of the most ambitious project ever by

government. THR is a service where Ration ( rice + pulses ) is distributed children of age less

than three years, pregnant mothers and lactating mothers in different proportions according to



there nutrient needs to maintain decent level of nutrition to these people. A great idea and

implemented beautifully too on paper. But in reality are we really nourishing our upcoming

generation with proper nutrition. I m sure in none of the families the ration distributed for

children is equally distributed for 30 days and then fed to baby. Generally the ration is consumed

by the whole family within 2 or three days and then same diet is followed for rest of 27 days of

month. Now three days of nutrient food can reduce how much of malnutrition and help children

grow is highly questionable.

Also these worries start only after he THR is being distributed, that in itself is a

topic of dispute between AWWs and beneficiaries. Current policy issues money for pulses to be

bought at Rs 40/kg and rice at 15/kg. The rate of food inflation we have seen in past three years

for food products has made mockery of these estimates by government. Now one can understand

what quality of food can be bought at these rates and to what extent such sub standard food will

supplement the growth needs of children.

To counter high rates AWWs try to convince people to receive less quantity which though is

accepted by beneficiaries but doesn’t it ultimately maligns the objectives of the ICDS ?



CHAPTER 4

SUGGESTION BOX

Since the start of this project 8 weeks ago, I have been waiting to write this section of my report.

A lot to write here, though its very easy to give suggestion then to implement in real world amid

all the complications and limitations.

Still I would like to bring in notice a few ideas to department which take my suggestions to

further actions or even consider them as a part of any conversation that may lead to something

fruitful.

I have stated various discrepancies and reasons which I feel are responsible for such ‘‘not so

great’’ condition of our AWCs, now taking on them one by one I would like to explain what I

feel can be a possible way out.

4.1. Recruitment: I mentioned above about the abilities of selected AWWs and need of a new

selection procedure is eminent. I came to know from department that a new process, largely

dependent on an eligibility test just like TET ( teachers eligibility test ) is to be conducted, A

very appreciable decision by ICDS and hope it will definitely increase the educational abilities of

AWWs. I would really like to suggest that even those already in the job are also made

compulsory to clear the test. And for the new recruitments, if an interview round is possible it

will be icing on cake. It is very well known that conducting interview for such a large scale will

need lots of human resource as well as other arrangements. On part of human resource, ICDS can

ask different post graduate institutes of national repute like IIM/IIT/NIT/central universities

having courses in behavioral sciences or human resources to send their students who may assist

officials in interview procedure or may ask regional colleges to send their professors for that

matter not only this will increase the involvement of knowledgeable people it will also help in

reducing other unethical activities which in the end, result in a selection of a candidate who

doesn’t deserve the job or rejection of more valuable candidate.

I am emphasizing on interviews so much as a combination of educationally examined and

behaviorally judged AWWs will add more values to the system and ultimately help us to reach

our common objectives stated by ICDS.



4.2. Aware people : To get a well qualified pool of AWWs is desirable but all the goodwill

will not be encased with other most important half of the program, The beneficiaries are not well

aware of services offered by ICDS. They must know how much they deserve and why this all

system is being operational. It is not merely providing food to once who lack, it is much more

beyond that. People must know the importance of immunization as how severe these diseases

can go if not immunized at early stage. They should know the benefits of pre school education,

how important it is to maintain proper hygiene and send their children in proper uniform

provided by ICDS. In this regard as most of the local people are not good in reading or writing

thus providing info in print media or local media will not serve the purpose. Though starting an

advertising campaign on RADIO spreading awareness regarding objectives and services offered

will be of great help. In this case too a considerable amount of workload can be shared by

allocating internship ( non paid summers as well as winters, mostly to local students) of different

institutes who can spread awareness using different modes of communication like Nukkad

Nataks, Rallys and awareness campaigns at Gram panchayat levels.

More aware the beneficiaries, better reception of services and integrated development of

children.

4.3. Training programs: training to AWWs is provided by various AWTCs in the country.

They are total 490 in numbers, and a significant large number of AWTCs are needed to cater the

needs of almost 81000 AWWs working in Bihar. Increasing this number so rapidly is neither

advisable nor practical. Thus training can be imparted on block levels. In general case a CDPO is

well qualified to train other AWWs. Thus a once in three months or whatever is feasible can be

implemented at block level where AWWs should be trained and more importantly reviewed

about their learning.

4.4. THR menu and distribution: it is very well known by even the department that even after

reaching beneficiaries family, food doesn’t reach the desired person in appropriate amount. Thus

a change in menu is very much important. Distributing Rice and Pulses is not serving the

purpose as there are very few who are not able to feed their child with these type of food. The

most such food does is to help them change their taste and not enhance their nutrition level. Even

after receiving THR there is not much change in their diet or quantity they consume daily.

Approx 65% of total funds allocated is spent in distribution of THR and the effect of it on

overall development is minimal. Though on my suggestion the most desired state is change in



menu, providing food which is consumable by beneficiary only. To implement all this I will take

a substantial amount of time, till then my suggestion was to decrease the amount of Rice ( easily

available in almost every home in Bihar ) and increase the amount of Pulses to be distributed as

it is more costly and most of the people can’t afford good quality Pulses, also a source of protein

which is surely an advantage over Rice.

Also the distribution can be made twice a month or may be once a week so that all the amount

distributed is not consumed at once by the family, and will go for more days as compared with

present scenario.

4.5. Alternative supervision : Role of supervision is assigned to Lady supervisors and CDPO.

They need to visit atleast 25 centres each per month. In samastipur average number of centres

per block is 171.9 thus it will take a CDPO and 3 supervisors( ideally) 1.75 months that is 50

days to cover all the centres once. With variations take a range of 45-60 days. But that’s not the

case. Centres nearby block offices are visited every now and then and in interior regions are

meant as forbidden terrotitires. Centres in interiors experience a visit as much upto 2 years.

Reason for this may be lack of staff as LS ( lady supervisors ) find these jobs too tough and leave

or are so irresponsible that they don’t consider it as very important task. By my personal

experiences during this intern I have seen CDPO alone going to all centres that obviously is too

difficult due to lack of LS and also observed LS coming to office at 10am and then going for

visit only if their mood and weather permits. Such attitude really made me sad when government

is investing so much of people’s money in the project.

Thus in this matter my suggestion would be to introduce alternative supervisions. It may be

done by contracting supervision work to private organizations, by introducing such method

government will not be liable to lack of vacancies or difficulties in reaching interiors. As LS

appointed aren’t permanent employees so I don’t feel contracting out will be much of a difficulty

or against the policies of government.

4.6. Feedback by AWWs : till now we have imparted much emphasis on to regulate and

improve the qualification and working of anganwadi workers. Amidst all these regulations and

supervisions there must be a way to ensure AWWs aren’t exploited. By applying so much norms

and evaluation being done of AWWs, they may feel they are only used as a tool and aren’t a part

of system. Thus to ensure AWWs too have a say in scheme of things their must be a method

which takes forward the concerns and difficulties faced by AWWs. Such can be done by



introducing Feedback system, in which they can give feedback of their seniors like LS , CDPO,

Trainers. These feedbacks should be evaluated by an independent team and then report to be

sent to top officials. Also AWWs should be allowed to give feedback both knowingly and

anonymously. This will give AWWs confidence to work in an more respectable environment.

This Feedback technique can me extended towards more exclusive type i.e Rolling Feedback,

where groups of 10-12 (generally each panchayat) AWWs have to give feedback of each other as

they observe each other most closely and can give best report. To make this system more

effective department can plan rewards for best AWWs of the month in form of small cash prizes

or other accolades, presented in monthly meetings held at block. This will surely increase the

interest in work and urge to out perform each other by giving best results.



CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

„„An experience for lifetime‟‟,- is all I must say.

I came to ICDS with a lots of curious thoughts, with two or three experiences of Bihar

beforehand but all limited to my hometown Muzaffarpur and relatives and having a very limited

knowledge of people, traditions, culture and economic status of people. Never thought

wandering from one block to other, village to village in public transport, auto rickshaws, bull

carts and yes in government vehicles can be so much fun. Though also suffered 20 days of ‘worst

of my life’ heat in dust and dirt, but not to regret. And not to forget the extra supportive behavior

of people who even used to give lift on their bikes to respective centres of their regions to get

them examined and ask AWWs a lot of questions in my presence. This clearly showed their

eagerness and participation towards the services of ICDS which was always a pleasing

experience.

Professionally too it was a great learning experience. Never interacted this large number of

strangers in such a short span of time. Giving me more confidence to go and meet new people.

Visiting AWCs ranged from going along with CDPO to individually asking for centres from

villagers and taking feedback about their respective centres. In total of only 89 centres I saw the

extremes of centres with worst being not able to gather even 15 students that too not sitting in

room instead roaming around with no food being prepared to best where I found all the children

properly dressed in uniform and singing songs and poems, all happy and waiting for their hot

Pulao to be served. Their fresh faces and active movements surely gives a hope that they surely

are our future and are in right hands.

To conclude I must say ICDS is doing a great job to synchronize and maintain such a

huge network of AWWs. I have written this report more on a critical side to highlight where are

we lacking and what steps need to be taken to further improve the condition. Apart from what I

have criticized there are lots of positives that can be drawn from AWCs. It feels great that they

are able to change the mentality of people that they have started sending their children to centres.

Though just gathering students is not all we want and have to go a long way.. I will be obliged if

any of my suggestions will add any value to organization and hence to our nations.

In the end I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to be a part of your

organization. I wish ICDS a very good luck for future and all my blessings that nation grow

leaps and bounds with your services.



CHAPTER 6

REFERENCES

1. Web page of ICDS Bihar

2. Documents received from ICDS head office, Patna (Bihar )

3. Documents received from DPO office, Samastipur (Bihar )

4. Field surveys in blocks of Tajpur, Sarairanjan, Patori, Morwa

5. information provided by CDPOs and LS

6. Information provided by AWWs

7. Information provided by Local villagers