KOPPAL: With the video clip of an anganwadi worker thrashing a three-year-old baby girl allegedly for coming late to the centre and failing to learn the Kannada alphabets going viral on Monday, the state-run centres for children have come under fire from a number of quarters of the society.
Most anganwadis in the district face a plethora of woes. There is a lack of strength due to the lack of basic amenities like drinking water, proper distribution of nutrients and own building.
The incident of an anganwadi worker thrashing a child is only the tip of an iceberg, according to sources.
The particular incident is said to have occurred on Friday at an anganwadi centre in Gundoor village of Kanakagiri taluk in Koppal district.
According to local residents, anganwadi worker Sharanamma was asked to deal with children politely many times in the past.
As she did not head their pleas, local youths were forced to video record the incident, said Ameen, a relative of the baby girl.
Though the centre has 35 children on record, only 8-10 attend it regularly, owing to the lack of basic amenities and hence, it faces threat of closure, which resulted in its staff taking out their ire on tge children, maintain local residents.
Apart from slapping, Sharanamma hit the baby girl with a stick, leading to her weeping loudly, which prompted local youths to record the video, said an elderly person of the village.
However, Kanakagiri Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) Shweta told TNIE on Monday that she visited the anganwadi centre had a medical check-up performed on the baby girl, who is “doing well”.