Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde recently launched +Container Aanganwadis, while highlighting its amenities as best for children’s health and in which anganwadi workers played an important role.
Shinde said that this concept – which is being implemented by the State Women and Child Development Department — was “useful” especially in places like Mumbai Metropolitan region where there is paucity of land.
The Chief Minister inaugurated online from Vidhan Bhavan the “Container Aanganwadis” at Janupada in the Kandivli East suburb of Mumbai in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Bhavyata Foundation and other NGOs under the “Aanganwadi adoption scheme.” An MoU for planting 1.5 million trees was also inked between HDFC bank and Mumbai suburban district office.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the amenities and quality of aanganwadis could be improved through aanganwadi adoption scheme as they played an important role in making future generations healthy.
Women and child development minister Mangalprabhat Lodha, minister for rural development Girish Mahajan, principal secretary to women and child development I A Kundan, commissioner for integrated child development service scheme Rubal Agrawal, Mumbai suburban district collector Dr Rajendra Bhosale and other officials were also present.
The aanganwadi adoption scheme includes assistance to health check- ups, skill development and training, educational facilities, growth monitoring to aanganwadi centres through corporate social responsibility funding, and NGOs for strengthening the aanganwadi centres in the state.
There are 3,656 aanganwadis in Maharashtra which have been adopted by various companies and social organizations since October 2022. Besides earlier adopting five anganwadi centres, the Bhavyata foundation recently adopted 40 aanganwadi centres including five at Nashik, Palghar (5), Gadchiroli (9), one each in Dhule, Chandrapur, Nandurbar and Ratnagiri, besides Aurangabad (15) and Raigad (2).
The Chief Minister has also assured that, in the coming two years, basic facilities projects in Maharashtra would be streamlined in highlighting a unique identity of the State.
Meanwhile, efforts are on to speed up the development process through projects like Samruddhi Mahamarg, Mumbai Metro, MTHL, Coastal Road, Apla Dawakhana, etc, Shinde said, while adding that amended administrative sanctions have been given for around 23 irrigation projects that will irrigate 5,21 lakh hectares of land.
While farmers were given Rs 12,000 crore as compensation for suffering through various natural calamities, free healthcare launched under the “Balasaheb Thackeray Apla Dawakhana” project witnessed 160 such dispensaries being set up in Mumbai where seven lakh people were treated. 200 additional dispensaries will be opened by March 31 and, in the next financial year, this number will go up to 500, the Chief Minister said.
Around 4.50 crore women were brought under the compass of the ‘Safe Mother, Secured House’ scheme that ensured women’s health check-up, besides the government also launching the “Aware Guardian – Healthy Child” scheme to medically examine children in the ”0 to 18 years” age group with a target of examining 2 crore children.
To ensure employment to Maharashtra’s youth, the Government has decided to fill 75,000 vacant posts in various government establishments for which the recruitment process has been initiated, he said, adding that the “Maharojgar Melava” received an encouraging response from private entrepreneurs.
Concretization of Maharashtra’s 450-km road network is underway in Mumbai and efforts are on to repair the roads while making them pothole-free, Shinde said, adding that the Government is taking all required steps to speed up the projects of railway, roads and urban development in the state.
