In a bid to utilise information technology for keeping a close watch on the State’s Anganwadi centres, Department of Women, Child Development and Social Welfare joined hands with Department of Information Technology to launch Daily Information on ICDS Centres (DAINIC) on Saturday.
Under the initiative, lady supervisors and child development and protection officers have been equipped with tablet computers which are to be used for uploading real-time data about Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Centres and formulate schemes accordingly.
Emphasising the significance of ICDS centres during the inauguration ceremony, Chief Minister Raghubar Das said, “Questions are often raised on the importance of Anganwadi centres, but in my opinion, they play a crucial role in developing a better future for our society. As the personality of an individual starts taking shape from the age of three to four years, Anganwadi Sevikas and other functionaries associated with the ICDS centres are important for character building of a child.”
He also said, “10,900 Poshan Sakhis are to be appointed for eradicating malnutrition from the State. Around 5,000 Sakhis have already been appointed and the rest will follow soon. Our focus is on empowering our workforce.”
“Situation has improved greatly in terms of health and nutrition, monitoring through tablet computers will help in improving the scenario further. If you (lady supervisors) have any technical difficulty, then come to the department with it instead of keeping it to yourself,” stated Social Welfare Minister louis Marandi.
As of now, 800 lady supervisors have been provided with tablet computers and 200 more units will be provided soon, informed Social Welfare Secretary Vinay Kumar Choubey.
“Out of the 38,000 ICDS centres, 1000 will be chosen everyday at random for the lady supervisors to visit. They will upload pictures of the attendance of children, availability of equipment there. Required action will be then taken against discrepancies we find,” he said.
He added, “The supervisors will also generate data on pregnant women covered by the centre. This way we will be able to determine when a child is born and initiate process of Aadhar enrolment for the newborn. In the next three months, we will cover all ICDS Centres in the State. Using IT will ensure that false data is not registered.”
The CM handed over tablet computers to five lady supervisors to mark the inauguration of DAINIC.