Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath hands over 1 lakh smartphones to Anganwadi workers under Nutrition programme

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath distributed smartphones to 1,23,000 Anganwadi workers to make their work easy and smart.

Image credit: ANI

Lucknow: Lauding the tireless efforts of Anganwadi workers in controlling the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, CM Yogi Adityanath, on Tuesday (September 28), said that the Smart Anganwadi will be the foundation of all-round development of children. The use of smartphones and technology will make their work even smarter.

“Smartphones will make your work even smarter and this smartness should be your identity. Smartphones will provide health-related information of every child making the daily work easy and transparent,” stated Yogi Adityanath while distributing smartphones to 1,23,000 Anganwadi workers at an event held in Lucknow.

The CM also distributed as many as 1,87,000 Newborn Growth Monitoring devices (infantometer) to each Anganwadi centre to measure the level of growth of newborn children.

During the programme, the CM himself handed over smartphones to 20 workers, while 10 were provided with Growth Monitoring Devices. At the same time, distribution was done by the local public representatives in the districts

He said that before 2017, Anganwadi workers were known only for protests and now they are playing an important role in the nutrition and development of children with full commitment.

The CM stated that during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, surveillance committees were formed to check on the spread of disease in the rural areas. The Anganwadi workers, as a member of these committees, went door-to-door to provide medical kits and made people aware of the vaccine.  With their dedication and work, the workers have changed the perception of the people.

Referring to the encephalitis disease, the Chief Minister said that from 1977 to 1997, no one took care of the innocent. In the hospitals of the Gorakhpur-Basti division, four children used to get treatment on a single bed. “No government paid attention. After our government came in 2017, we worked for ending this situation. It was the Anganwadi workers’ sisters who made the 'Dastak Abhiyan' successful,” he said.

Today, if UP has successfully eradicated the encephalitis disease by 95-97 percent, the credit goes to Anganwadi workers, he added.

The CM also said that the government is continuously working towards the all-round development of children in the State.

Yogi said that once the Anganwadi was infamous for the ‘Panjiri’ corruption. It not only tarnished the image of the government but also put a question mark on the Anganwadis. Our government worked in this regard and now nutritious food is being prepared in the district itself keeping in mind the pregnant or lactating women.

E-governance is useful for good governance: Swati Singh

Minister of Women, Child Development and Pustahar described smartphone distribution as an example of e-governance. He said that Chief Minister Yogi is determined for good governance and e-governance is a very useful medium for good governance.

The Minister also thanked the Chief Minister for increasing the honorarium of Anganwadi workers.

The government's effort behind providing smartphones to workers is to make Anganwadi programs more transparent and update real-time data. It will help them to run the schemes run by Anganwadi- including nutrition and care of children more effectively.