Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi on Monday formally inaugurated a 5th Regional Office of the central research, training, development and resource centre, NIPCCD (National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development) at Mohali with an impassioned call to scientifically scale up the training of anganwadi workers and women sarpanches to act as catalysts for accelerated development of women and children.
“Let the training of anganwadi workers be of a level that they are able to provide the same standard of pre-schooling as in any reputed private pre-school, and not remain confined to providing nutrition, as they have been all these 40 years of their existence,” she stressed, adding “so much so that people at all levels, who at present prefer to send their children to private pre-schools, incurring a heavy expenditure, are inspired to enrol them in anganwadis.”
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Photos By : Life in Chandigarh
Taking a deep interest in the playing tools and other materials prepared by NIPCCD and on display in the Child Guidance Centre, the minister later in her address to the gathering was highly appreciative of the innovation shown by various resource persons of the institute. “Taking a round of the exhibits, I was amazed to find that at least 25% of these educational games were very new and exciting, worth patenting and distributing among the anganwadis, and selling in the open market,” she shared. She even hinted towards possibility of launching a company to sell such valuable products.
She appeared to be particularly charmed by ‘Akshar Mala’, a word building game in Hindi using blocks with alphabets written on all six sides prepared by a young female resource person Varuni Sethi under the supervision of her guide Parul Srivastav. “If fact, I would love to buy such a game for my granddaughter, too,” Maneka said.
Later talking to LifeInChandigarh.com Parul Srivastav gave full credit to the young resource persons being trained at the centre for their creativity, and said their contribution was particularly invaluable since the educational play material space was dominated by English language products, and hence of little interest to a vast majority of target audiences not familiar with the language.
The Union minister also wanted deep focus to be laid on training resource persons to enhance the abilities of children with special needs, especially in rural areas. Psychological conditioning of children who show signs of violent behaviour, isolation or other traits of concern is another area we need to concentrate on, she added.
Laying emphasis on spreading awareness among, and training women sarpanches in administrative, financial and technical matters, as also sensitising them to issues of social change, Maneka Gandhi observed that after implementation of 33% reservation for women in rural and urban local bodies (50% in some states) it had become imperative that they be geared to work independently, and not become pawns in the hands of their husbands or others, as was practically happening to a large extent.
If we are able to train them on small, simple things like money matters – how and from where funds can be sourced, how these are to be judiciously utilised, how to prioritise projects and marshal human resources, audit works and accounts, etc – we can empower them for accelerated development, she maintained.
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A skit on the subject “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” amused the audience. The programme ended with an impressive ‘Swachhta Song’ sung by the young trainee resource persons of the institute.
The Union minister also visited the “Women Of India Organic Festival 2019”, organised in Chandigarh for the first time by her ministry to encourage women in organic farming, and bought a few things for herself, including a lone remaining pack of an aromatic variety of rice from a sold out stall put up by Basundhara Susthaye Krishi Khamar, West Bengal. The well-received three-day festival concluded on Monday.
Not So Cool
Two sore points stood out during the inaugural function at the impressive campus of NIPCCD Mohali. Moving out of the building after taking a round of the facilities, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi noticed excessive use of concrete on the inner perimeter of the campus and gave a mouthful to the concerned officials. She wanted the concrete paver blocks to be removed and trees planted generously instead. “Work must be done quickly,” she ordered.
Another sore point on the campus of an institute focussed on positive change of mindsets and modern thought processes was the use of a string of vintage incandescent bulbs to decorate the entrance to its building in an age of LEDs.
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