New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) While the Modi government completes 11 years in power, ‘Garib Kalyan’ has remained at the core of governance as reflected in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s oft-repeated pitch of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Prayas’.

Much like Ujjwala Yojana, DBT, Jan Dhan Yojana and others, Anganwadi centres have seen upgradation and transformation for the first time, under Prime Minister Modi.

Former Union Minister Smriti Irani on Thursday explained in detail how the Anganwadis remained “institutions of no relevance” during UPA rule but became digitised and modernised under the Modi government.

The Modi Story, a popular social media handle on X, shared a video of Smriti Irani shedding light on the differences between the BJP and Congress regimes in their outlook, focus and governance regarding Anganwadis.

In the video, Irani, the former Women and Child Development Minister, said there is too much of a difference between boasting about bringing change and delivering it on the ground.

“PM Modi didn’t just speak about modernisation but delivered it. He not just spoke about revamping old ways of working in the Anganwadis but also brought structural changes to ensure that the real change happens on the ground,” she said.

Lamenting the ignorance and negligence of Anganwadi centres during the Congress regime, she said that it remained in power for so many years, but Anganwadis were never on its list of priorities.

Recalling the range of initiatives to strengthen Anganwadis, Irani said that under Prime Minister Modi, more than 11 lakh Anganwadis received smart devices and 12 lakh growth monitoring devices, a first in the country’s history.

Over 10 lakh Anganwadi workers were trained digitally and offline, she further informed, calling it a true example of turning vision into action.

Notably, Anganwadi Services are one of the flagship programmes of the government providing early childhood care and development of the beneficiaries i.e. children in the age group of 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers through a large network of Anganwadi workers (AWW) and Helpers (AWH).

Under POSHAN Abhiyaan, the Aanganwadi workers (AWWs) have been technologically empowered with smartphones. A total of 11.03 lakhs smartphones have been procured by States/UTs.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative this year, the Women and Child Development Ministry decided to extend childcare services through Anganwadi cum Creche (AWCC).

–IANS

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